Awesome!

Awesome Drummers - Watch more amazing videos here

Soundcloud!

I create a bit of music occasionally firstly in Garageband but of late in Studio Pro since I purchased it for myself for Christmas. 

Although I have a Myspace site, I discovered the more slick Soundcloud today which lets you move music fast & easy. It takes the daily hassle out of receiving, sending & distributing music for artists, record labels & other music professionals. It also aids artists to collaborate on tracks too which is very funky.
Click on the logo above to check it out and if you are creating music yourself I have a drop box on Soundcloud which you can access using the widget on the right of this blog - so as you can send me your music!. 

Ma' Africa from 1 Giant Leap

One of the 12 great tracks from this interesting recording project produced entirely on an Apple G3 Laptop using Logic.

Ma' Africa.mp3

1 Giant Leap? - Well worth a listen.

Like many complex achievements, 1 Giant Leap began as a simple idea — in this case a straight musical collaboration. The producers, Duncan Bridgeman and Jamie Catto, got talking about how the modern record business was obsessed with dividing music into categories, and began considering what they could do to blur the boundaries. They held a shared admiration for such '80s cross-cultural works as Peter Gabriel's world-music project Passion and Brian Eno and David Byrne's My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts, and decided to undertake something similar, but with a twist made possible by recent technological developments. These albums had introduced world music performers like Baaba Maal and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan to the West, but why, in this age of ostensibly portable recording equipment, could Duncan and Jamie not go to record their favourite performers in their home environment? They could, of course — but they were determined to make a properly collaborative, interactive project, and that meant taking a multitrack recording environment with them. They did and they have done it again with a new album "What about me" to be released early this year.

Obama

Turn it up, dance around the room and rejoice!

Obama.mp3

Today I met Peter Johann Pachelbel

I got an email today from youtube alerting me to the fact that 1992peter had made a comment on a video I uploaded some time back.

I like to follow up and thank the commenter for taking the time to add a comment and so it was that I met Peter Johann Pachelbel and I thought you might like to meet him too.

Peter suffers from a bilateral cleft palate that has required multiple operations, has only 4 out of 20 vision and if you go to the very first post in his blog you will find out that this makes life pretty challenging for him.

He is a smart guy too with an enquiring mind which he uses to extend his knowledge of all manner of complex subjects.

If you have a youtube user login you can double click on the video to go to his youtube site to add a comment.

The internet has an amazing capacity to link up people from every corner of the earth. 

Dance

A composition using Apple loops created in Logic Studio designed to get you up and groovin'! Turn it up loud!

Dance.mp3

Bob's Song

Bob's Song.mp3

I made a post awhile back about a highly respected friend, Bob Howard, who died tragically before his time after a bitter battle with cancer. Being the type of individual he was, he requested a Mexican Day of the dead party some days before he actually passed away. It was for this occassion that I whipped together, in Garageband using loops, a composition in his honour that was played for him on the night which he apparently quite enjoyed.
Following an enquiry by good friend Sarah Toa, I have found a better way to get a single mp3 posted using Box.net and so have deleted the original post in favour of this far more sophisticated method to be posted about shortly.

A Minuet in the key of A by Fernando Sor

The Bad Robots........

are a brilliant UK band that you have just got to add to your music collection.
With super tight full on sound and often amusing lyrics their live gigs are renowned for their energy.
They have released an album Great Days available on iTunes and an EP that you can get your dirty mitts on by contacting the band at their MySpace site by clicking on the image to the left.
Lead Singer Ben Larsen is an Aussie from Albany in Western Australia and he was always destined to make music a career and it is great to see some success coming his and this hard working bands way.
A little taste of the band live.....

Finally a Dobro

As well as a sweet little Yamaha C151s classical guitar for son Tims' birthday, I purchased a Regal Squareneck Dobro while in Perth.
I have been intrigued by lap steel guitar for sometime now and, following a period of experimentation on a normal acoustic, made the decision that I wanted to explore this style of playing more seriously.
One of the main inspirations to do so was because of a guy called Stacy Phillips who features in the following videos.





He has also written a seminal Dobro tutor which I also ordered and received when I got home yesterday so I am into it -and damned difficult it is too!

Little Piece in Am

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly! An absolutely sensational rendition and very, very amusing!

And I just had to add this one aswell! Again sensational and very, very amusing!

A sudden rash of creativity!

This is one of three pieces of music I wrote this week in a sudden rash of creativity following the completion of my exams for this semester.
Funny how that happens.
It actually started because I had a semi crash and burn on an exam at the beginning of the last week and to console myself a little I picked up the guitar and a nice little progression popped out. I thought to myself well that might turn into a little guitar quartet and that's what happened.
I then revisited a little study I had written specifically for a student a few weeks earlier and extended it into a longer piece including a further technical issue for her to deal with.
On Wednesday morning I wrote the above duo for guitar and another instrument in about 45 minutes before I had to rush out and pick up my ailing but currently recovered Mum from the Hospice where she had a few days of respite.

You can hear the pieces (Midi instrument so not a fantastic sound - must get Finale 2008 one day) on this site's new music player and they are the:

• Little Duo in Em for guitar and solo instrument
  
• ICT211 for guitar quartet
  
• Little Piece in Am for solo guitar
  
  

I have uploaded the scores of all 3 pieces including separate parts for the quartet to my account at eSnips. Please feel free to download them and use them as you desire.

I have a few other pieces, including a fanfare for a local brass band, stashed away which I must get into Finale so as I can work on them a little more.
Anyone know how to write for transposing instruments in Finale - specifically writing initially so as you can hear how it sounds and then transposing the parts that require it so as the band can actually play the piece?

They are back!

My all-time favourite rock band in concert again on December the 10th in London for the first time in 30 years! John Bonham's son Jason to fill in for his old man who was the best rock drummer of all-time!
Damn that I found out too late and I won't be there to see it.
I last saw them live in the early 70's at Subiaco Oval in Perth and I travelled a long way (from Singapore) to get to that concert and I would be happy to do an even longer trip to see them again.
I spent a considerable part of my youth learning to play their riffs having bought their first album in 1969 when I was 16, resulting in a now nearly 40 year association with the guitar.
Damn, Damn, Damn!

Meet DBR! A 21st century Paganini!

Although classically trained, Daniel Bernard Roumain is doing some interesting stuff taking the violin to a very different place with his eclectic compositions including other musicians as diverse as Philip Glass and DJ Scientific.
There is plenty of video to view at his website. Sounds a bit like Steve Vai at times! Amazing what you can do with some effects! And sometimes he uses a 6 string violin not the usual 4 string one! Amazing and exciting music!

Lap Style Dobro Guitar!

I have been toying with the idea of learning to play this style of guitar.
The sounds that some of these guys produce are exquisite but much of the music played really rocks out so to speak.

I am thinking about this for a couple of reasons:

• I have been searching for an instrument that I can play acoustically and still get heard if there are a few other instruments around.
• I love to play electric blues and I can achieve many of the qualities I love on lap steel.
  
• As I am a classical guitarist, and keen to look after my nails, this style of playing is a good option as picks are used providing a good degree of protection.

The video features one of the world's pre-eminent palyers Stacy Phillips playing a jazzy/blues piece.
Enjoy!

The amazing Evelyn Glennie

Hard to believe I know, but yes she is deaf! Amazing musician!

10 critically important things for a successful jam session!

1. Make sure everybody is in tune!





2. Don't let songs or solos go on for ever!
3. Don't insist on acoustic instruments only!
4. As an electric bass player really helps!
5. And so does amplification for the singer!
6. Take some sort of drum along!
7. And make someone play it so as there is a beat!
8. Don't let a non-muso play the spare percussion instruments!
9. Bring some charts just in case!
10. Leave the drugs at home!

Robben Ford and Monterey Pop Festival

As well as having played classical guitar for many years, I am also a great lover of electric blues guitar and I like many of the greats but I really love the way Robben Ford plays!

What do I like about him:

• His tone is outstanding!
• His playing is tinged just enough with a jazz grammar but not too much as personally I am not keen on jazz!
• He usually has a great rhythm section playing with him and often a great keyboard player like Russell Ferrante
  
• He has done some great covers of classic songs like - Born under a Bad sign, Don't let me be Misunderstood, Badge and Keep on Running to name a few stand outs
  
• He has a great feel for gospel very apparent on the album "Talk to your Daughter"

My only point of contention with him is his singing which is fine but not in anyway a match for the way he makes the guitar sing!
If you are in to electric blues guitar and you haven't heard him play can I recommend you do so.
I have embedded a short video of him playing a rhumba blues just so as you can get a taster! Enjoy!

Carrying on a little again with musical inspiration, the father of one of my very few students kindly lent me a 3 DVD set of the "Complete Monterey Pop Festival Collection" and I can tell you it has some stellar musical moments and people playing including Hendrix and he is at his peak here.

But what a pleasure to see Mike Bloomfield, Paul Butterfield and Elvin Bishop play along with many other great performers. Get your hands on a copy if you can! Reminded me of why I got in to playing music in the first place.