A Personal Reccomendation

I've never been particularly loyal to guitar strings. I generally play 9-42 "extra light" gauge strings, but I'm occasionally intrigued with the idea of chunkier, heavier strings, and will go up to a 11-54 heavier gauge.I'm sure this does the intonation of my guitars no real good, but I just like to switch things up.

I go through phases, and I remember particularly the time leading up to my starting the first Hayoth batch of songs. I was playing acoustic a lot, and really starting to enjoy the heavier feel of acoustic strings. I felt like I got a "ring" out of them that felt more controllable than what I was getting from lighter electric strings.

Then I'd feel like I wanted something a little easier to bend, do pull-offs, vibrato, etc....so back to lighter strings.

Brand? Virtually irrelevant to me. I probably buy Ernie Ball more than any other, just because they're usually cheaper.

I recently bought some sets of D'Addario NYXL strings, extra light 9-42.

These are great strings. They're light, but they feel like they play at a higher tension, and are a bit stiffer. They don't feel hard to push around like a heavy gauge set, but more solid than a regular set of extra lights. Plus, and this is a big deal....the hold tune really well.

When I strung up with them, I was stretching the strings, and they were holding the note. Even under some pretty serious stretching (my Les Paul can be a bit temperamental, so I tend to stretch strings a lot when I put them on), they were staying reasonable in tune. They've also done pretty well as I've been working on track #8 for the next Hayoth set. As usual with this guitar, the long I play and warm everything up, the better the tuning is, but the NYXLs are doing as well as I could hope for.

I should follow this up when I get to play this weekend. The guitar has been sitting in the studio all week, virtually untouched (I've been gone a lot, in tech for a new play), and the weather has been brutally cold. It seeps into our apartment. When I do pick it up and strum a bit, it's probably slipping low, but it's pretty damn good string to string. I can play on it without sounding shit.

It's only my first set of these babies, but I am looking forward to trying them out on my Tele and Strat. I also see them have an 8-38 "extra super light" set, and I may give that a try.

I'll report back as time goes on.

I Have Booked Rehearsal Space

Myself, a bassist, and a drummer.

*and there was much rejoicing*

Of course, thinking about the $50 it's gonna cost for 3 hours in the room makes me remember getting together in a garage with Dave F and Larry D back in the day. Yeah, I sucked back then, but we had fun. And it was free.

It's still a few weeks away (May 19th), but I'm feeling good about it. We're going to work on some of my material, so, I'm FINALLY going to hear some of it with a real drummer. I'm excited for that, of course.

This also means I have to get some of my crap together and make some recordings so they'll have some idea of what's coming at them. I was hoping to get to it this past weekend, but...yeah. Didn't happen. Still, I'm feeling pretty inspired right at the moment, AND pretty good about my playing, in general. I feel ready to move forward, and put energy into making the time to do that.

I still miss Dave and Larry, though.

Ah, well, you move on right? It is nice to feel in control of what I'm doing on the guitar. My lead playing could still use work, I know this, but my riffing and rhythm work feels solid. I finally feel like I can get out of my own way, a little bit, and just play.

I'm also going to give a big endorsement for the locking tuners I put on the Les Paul. Holy crap, it stays in tune so much better now. Night and day, almost. So much more stable. Definitely a worthwhile purchase.

It's Always When You're Trying to Save

Man, it's been a couple of weeks.

Dropped my Zune (yes, I use a Zune, and LOVE it) on the train platform, and cracked the crap out of the screen. Still works, but I hate seeing those jagged shards. I keep waiting form them to start falling out. Eventually, I'll have to get some sort of replacement.

*sigh*

I'll probably have to go to an iPod. It was sort of a point of pride, to me, that i didn't have any Apple stuff. I know, I know, different jut to be different. Still, with the questions about how their factory workers are treated, I find the kind of myth-making the company indulges to be more than a little disturbing. I have no bone to pick here, if you use and enjoy Apple products, good for you. I'll probably have an iPod sooner or later, but...not happily.

I also picked up new locking tuners for my Les Paul. I had been having some tuning issues with the guitar, nothing horrendous, but annoying enough that I was looking for a way to make the tuning more stable. It wouldn't be a huge issue, but I've grown to really love the feel of my Les' neck, and how it plays. It feels much more natural than my Stratocaster, which I still use for cleaner playing. The Les has a bit too much "chunk" for lighter styles.

I looked at several brands, but all of them required a lot of work to fit the Les Paul. Drilling new holes, etc. Was not in a place where I wanted to do that to the guitar, and I really don't have the skill, anyway. Then I found a Klusen locking tuner that not only looked like the stock tuners, but would fit the guitar without modification. Yeah, they have a higher profile, with the locking mechanism on the face of the headstock, rather than underneath, but I kinda dig the look. (I almost want to get black locks, as in the picture - I think it looks cool)

More importantly, they work very slickly. It took me around a half hour to get them installed, very easy process. Once they were on, string changing became MUCH more simple. Put the string through, lock it down, a few twists...in tune. (I did manage to break my 4th string [D] while stretching, but I think that was my own fault) It's stayed pretty well in tune ever since. I'm calling this a good investment. Long-term reactions may vary.

Then, of course, it rained today, and I noticed the tell-tale moistening of my sock. Yet another pair of shoes has given up the go.  My Nike Delta Force high tops have worn through the sole, again. I don't wanna be one of those "in MY day" people, but I really do remember shoes lasting a lot longer when I was a kid.

Cbyrd likes to point out that I buy a pair of shoes, and then wear it, exclusively, until it wears out. Yeah, I can see how that would make my shoes wear out faster than somebody who has two or three pairs they rotate through, but when I was a kid I did the same thing! I just think the shoes don't last as long.

But hell, I guess nothing really does.

Next Verse, Same as the First

It's amazing to me, looking back, that my first two CDs, I "released" them within two years of each other. The first Hourglass 34, was SIX YEARS ago. I was fairly prolific at the time. I still am, to a point. I have a backlog of lyrics, riffs, and other such nonsense. What I haven't been able to do is get those riffs and lyrics recorded in a way I am happy with.

This was brought home last night. I have about seven tracks in various stages of development. I listened through all of them last night, cringing all the way. Guitar tones that just do not mesh, bass that doesn't cut through, robo-drums (a fact of life I have to live with, at this point) that stand out too much. Blah, blah, blah.

So, in my grand tradition of burning my ships to motivate the crew....I'm ditching all of it, and starting from scratch. I have good stuff here, I just need to focus it, speed some of it up, and streamline what I'm doing. I also have to build a one-song-at-a-time work ethic. Right now, I have so many tracks, all in different stages of completion, or non-completion, and I can't even remember where I am with them. I feel like I've allowed myself to get lost in trying to get as much material going as I can, instead of just seeing each through until I'm happy, THEN moving on.

I have a lot of material. Thankfully, I've actually become a lot better at writing things down in a way where I can remember and execute them again, if needed. I was horrible at this with my first two CDs of material. I have tracks I recorded for those that would probably take me hours to figure out how and what I played.

Which is just stupid, seriously. What kind of an idiot am I?

Other things learned from the review:

I do not need so much distortion. Yeah, I have a few "metal-ish" tracks, that can benefit from a rather extreme thrash-style distortion setting, but most of this is heading for a more 70's hard rock vibe. That's begs for a warmer tone, with balls, but also not so brittle. It's not so aggressive.

Maybe go back to lighter strings. I've been playing with strings starting with an .11 on the high E. This is a pretty damn heavy string gage. I also do not de-tune the strings. At first, I liked the almost acoustic-feel that gave my Les Paul. Listening back, however, I think maybe it's too much. The Les already has a rather beefy tone, and the heavy strings push that even further. I may change my mind about this, but I think, before I start back into this stuff, I'll re-string with .10s or .9s.

Think about parts and dynamics. It's a hold-over from my 8-track recording days that I try to slam through the entire song in one take, one tone. I do not need to do this anymore. I have 24 tracks, I need to stop being afraid to use them. I also find myself at times thinking "how will I ever switch those tones live?" Which is dumb. The odds that I'll ever play this stuff live are pretty slim, if I'm being realistic, so I should work for the recording, and deal with the live situation if it ever actually happens.

Spend more time working with what my equipment can do for me. I have an amazing home studio unit. Mastering tools, editing, on-board effects, and I probably know how to use, effectively, about 50% of it. I need to work on that, because it'll only make me sound better, in the end. I need to take an afternoon, and just watch my instructional video all the way through, again, take notes, and treat it like a class. It'll only make things better.

Have confidence in my material and abilities. I was pretty amazed that most of the stuff that REALLY bothered me, when I reviewed this stuff, was technical. My vocals could benefit with some effect processing, my tone choices were not the best, but what I was doing worked pretty well. The stuff I've written also held up to my original gut reaction that it was some of my best writing, ever. Yeah, I could spend some time on melody lines, but it'll help to have complete backing tracks to work with.

I do confess some disappointment in this turn of events, personally. Mainly because, if I'd done what I did with my 8-track, and just hashed out a song, all the way through, right off the bat, I'd be further along now. That first track wasn't supposed to be a keeper, but a way to learn the whole process of putting a song together. If I'd done that with the Tascam, I'd probably have 4-5 completely finished track now, rather than 7-8 halfway finished ones.

At the end of the day, I know this CD is going to have duds on it, and I know it's not going to sound as good I I want it to. The drums, alone, assure that. However, I have all the tools, and material, to create something better than what I did on the last two disks, and that needs to be my goal. If I can make that adjustment, I'm sure I'll start seeing headway, rather than where I've been, feeling overwhelmed and stuck.

What shall we talk about?

Another "slow news day."

Re-strung the Les Paul last night, and applied some Nut Sauce for the first time. I've been having some trouble with keeping the guitar in tune, especially the G-string. I think the problem is that the nut grooves are just a bit too narrow, and bind on the strings. So, when I play hard, or do string bends, they get caught in the nut, and can't slip back into the original, tuned position.

This is my guess, based on what's happening. The turners aren't turning, so it's not pulling out there. I really think I'm dealing with a binding issue. So, I was doing a little research, and trying to figure a way to resolve the issue. I was REALLY hoping I wasn't going to have to try to sand out the nut grooves, although that would ultimately be the "be all, end all" solution.

I started reading up on guitar lubricants, and found Nut Sauce. A lot of people seem impressed with it. I had to mail-order the stuff, which is just bizarre to me, living in Chicago with several high-end music/guitar shops, and I tried it out last night.

I didn't play much, but it looks to be holding tune pretty well, within an acceptable drift range, anyway. I played for about 20-25 minutes this morning when I got up, and, while I didn't check the tuning against a tuner, or anything, the tuning was staying reasonably accurate comparing string-to-string.

So, at first blush, I'm sold on this stuff. We'll see how it goes over some recording I hope to do this weekend. (I started working on a slower blues progression this AM, and I think it may become the next track for the ongoing project)

Speaking of which...I listened back to a few things. I'm actually...wait for it...kinda happy with how it's all going, so far. I'm really comfortable with the overall vibe of the music tracks, which are definitely hard-rock, with some metallic touches, with a better groove than anything I've done before, in my humble opinion.

Now, of course, I haven't started trying to lay vocals in. I know that's where I stumble, a lot of the time. I'm not a singer. I can carry a tune in a bucket, on occasion, but I certainly can't do the things I hear in my head, most of the time.

I really do (here I go again) wish I could find a group of people who wanna do some low-stress jamming, record some stuff, and maybe play a few gigs. I have this silly dream of playing fundraisers for the assorted theatre companies I'm involved with. (ha HA!) Making some original music, putting it out, and not worrying about making a career out of it. Just being creative, with real, live human beings to bounce off of.

Because I THINK these tracks are going to turn out well, pretty good. Certainly the best stuff I've ever done, but I'm also aware they could be excellent demos for something really good and fun.

I hope you'll forgive...

The lack of a Monday edition. I was off work, and, frankly, not really focused. I was trying to get a few things done at home.

The good news is that I moved forward on "Reason." Drum track is set, I finished a basic rhythm guitar track, and then laid down a bassline. I'm pretty happy with it, at this point. I am still tweaking guitar tones, and that's another area where I can get kinda lost in the minutia.

Somewhere, there's a guitar tone that's raunchy and crunchy, but still clear enough to carry over the bass and rhythm. I haven't found it yet, but it's out there. I've been experimenting with stomp boxes, and pretty much put the effects processor behind me. That might make the work harder, especially if I EVER play live again, but there's something about simplicity that's really compelling for me.

It's kinda pathetic, in a way. I continually look at these tracks I'm doing with this misguided idea of, "oh, when I play it live, I can make it work like this." All the while knowing that the chances of me playing this stuff live are somewhere below slim and none.

Oh, well....

This cycle of tracks is definitely skewing to a harder, more metal sound. Of course, that makes it that much more difficult to not let things get muddy, especially with my recording equipment. I want a big sound, but I don't want a big swath of sludge.

All that said, things are sounding pretty good right now.

Rented GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra and Inglorious Basterds last night. Managed to get through both of them, even with a side trip to the Stage Left office (that turned out to be unneeded, but that's another story.) Here's the story of the day...I found the Joes vastly more entertaining than Tarantino's latest...indulgence.

GI Joe is by no means a great movie, oh, far from it. It's kinda awful. However, it has, to my ears, the exact amount of cheese and genuine morality that a movie based on a toy line and cartoon ought to have. Put that against Transformers 2, which was cheesy, and also morally repellent. I'll take tin-eared dialogue and bad jokes over a robotic stepin fetchit routine any day. Plus, the film...kinda gloriously...seemed to know it was junk.

It took me back to seeing Pearl Harbor, and just cringing at the awfulness. Then Alec Baldwin marched on screen as General Doolittle, and (as my buddy KenG would say) with the aroma of Aqua-Velva almost literally pouring from the screen, you realized he got it. Baldwin seemed to just understand he was in the middle of a huge piece of trash, and by playing Doolittle with that sideways glance that let you know that he knew, instead of the cloying earnestness of the lead cast, the film became entertaining.

I felt everyone in GI Joe was in on the joke, without playing camp and tearing the guts out of the stakes. It doesn't make it a better movie, and I can't really 'defend" it, per se. I can only say that I chuckled out loud at things like the undersea military base and the fast attack subs that "flew" like jets. It's preposterous, and just runs with it.

I had a good time. No more, no less. For a movie called GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra, you can't expect much more.

Inglorious Basterds. I'm sure to get hate mail for this, but I cannot for the life of me fathom why this got a Best Screenplay nomination. It's plodding, too long, and, in it's own way just as cheesy and ham-handed as GI Joe. The parts are good enough, I suppose. The story of Shosanna and her movie theatre is truly compelling, yet we keep spinning back to Aldo the Apache and the Basterds, who, for being the title characters, are ultimate just empty husks.

I mean, seriously, if you've seen it...can you tell me ANYTHING about any of the Basterds other than Aldo and Donny "The Bear Jew" Donowitz? OK, I'll grant you Hugo Stiglitz, but only because he gets a "mini-movie" to explain himself. B.J. Novak's Utivich? Who is he? I shouldn't even mention Samm Levine's Hirschberg, who doesn't even register as a presence in the film.

What do we know about any of these men? That they're Jewish and like to kill Nazis. Those that get the most "character" are those that do this in extremely gruesome or brutal ways, such as Donowitz beating them to death with baseball bats, or are played by Brad Pitt.

There are exceptions, of course, Christoph Waltz is truly amazing as Hanz Landa, which is a character Tarantino manages to actually give something to play. Also Melanie Laurent as the aforementioned Shosanna Dreyfuss is the absolute bright spot of the film, her work with Jacky Ido is just gorgeous and worthy of a better movie around it.

I'm sure there's folks out there sharpening their knives and thinking I'm an asshole for pointing out fault with Quentin Tarantino's work (I know you people are out there), but, here's the deal...Tarantino came on the scene and promised something new and exciting. Yeah, it was a little overly-ironic and arms-length for me, but you felt like he was taking these genres he loves and pushing them forward with a new energy and vitality.

Well, I don't feel that vitality anymore. I feel a guy grinding out re-hashes of other, better films, and dropping in wordy, irony-laced passages that fly in the face of the very genres he's supposedly honoring. I mean look at Death Proof, his portion of the Grindhouse release...it's just plain awful.

I can see what he's trying to do with Inglorious Basterds, he gives it away, in a more-than-obvious way, with the first "chapter." He's trying to make a Sergio Leone film set in WWII. That's a fine enough goal, and one that could produce an amazing film. However, Tarantino isn't Leone. Every character in a Leone film becomes interesting to me, either with the writing, or with how Leone cast and shot them.

Tarantino only manages two, really.

Isn't technology supposed to make life easier?

So, about a year ago, I picked up a multi-effects pedal board for my guitar.

To be exact, this little number. Supposedly "the most advanced guitar effects pedal, ever." It's got some good tones on it, I admit, but it broke down after about 6 months. I took it in for repair, as it was still in warrantee, and that took about 2 months. I honestly don't blame Line 6 for this at all, I have several of their products, and this is the only one that's ever given me problems. As for the repair time, that's more a problem with the local repair guy.

I've gone around and around with this thing for most of the year. The "flight manual" (yeah, that's what they call it) is about an inch thick, and I'm a guy...I don't read manuals. So, I've never really figured out how to use the damn thing. That's compounded with the fact that I go back and forth on it.

Sometimes, I just get annoyed with the board, and play through my amp alone (also a Line 6 product), and I'm super happy with the tone I get that way. Then, that starts to wear on me, and I plug the X3 back in. So, it's like a circle of annoyance...I had settled on a plan to trade the X3 and my amp in for an upgraded version of my amp, but...the plans of mice and men, y'know.

How this relates to my weekend, you may ask.

I spent a goodly number of hours this weekend trying to put some music down on my recorder. This led to a few frustrations...

1. At the fact I have to rely on a drum machine for percussion tracks. There is no ebb and flow to the drum tracks, no organic give and take. I keep thinking I want to get an electronic kit, so I could get somebody to come over and lay down drum tracks for me, or give it a college try myself, but I doubt my downstairs neighbors would deal with that very well.
2. With my recorder. Somehow, 8 tracks doesn't really seem enough anymore, which is silly. I toss around trading in the recorder and buying a copy of pro tools, to see if I can work that out. I'm told the learning curve is steep, especially for a guy who doesn't like to read manuals (see above). Plus, I can't help but feel that my Fostex 8-track, and earlier version of this, muddies my sound. The way the thing is set up, you have to bounce tracks to use all 8 available. There are times when I feel it all turning to sludge, especially when I'm trying to create something with a harder edge.
3. With my own playing. *SIGH* I kinda lay this on my drum machine's feet as well, but that's probably just passing the buck. I start every song with the drum track, I build something on the drum machine that gives me some room to play around, then I try to come up with some guitar line over that, then bass, then more guitar, etc. I feel myself falling into some ruts, rhythm-wise. I feel like I'm pulling the same beats to work with. Again, I'd like to have someone to play off of, and bounce ideas off of.
4. With my voice. I haven't recorded anything worthwhile in over 2 years. Fact. I've also not even gotten to the singing point with most of the stuff I do work on. This is mainly because I can't really sing. I can croak a bit, and occasionally I can hit a vocal line the way I want to, but it's rare. Frankly, I just don't have a voice, and I certainly don't have a voice to do the things I hear in my head.

So, working on music, which used to be a great diversion for me, has become pretty frustrating. Mainly because, while it's primarily a hobby, I want to create things I can be proud of, and I want to improve my work. When I feel like I'm stagnant, well...I start to lose the desire to really dig into it.

that is not a good thing.