06.08.08
Well, I think I need to
apologize for not updating the site as often as I should. You now how
it is.. super busy.. blah, blah, blah...
So what have I been doing? I am still
working on the second CD. Recently Allen Lynd
(http://www.allenlind.com/)
completed the drums tracks
for another song. I started editing the drum tracks for the new song
this weekend, but once again, he does such a good job that they really
hardly need editing. I currently have another song that I have given
to Allen and he should be recording the drums soon. I have another
song that I have recorded the rhythm guitar on, I need to still record
the second track to double track the guitars. Once this is completed I
will be giving the tracks to Allen to record the drums.
It has been really hard to dedicate
time to recording lately. There is a lot going on right now. We are
building a new house and that is eating up a lot of my time. The new
house is really looking great and it will house a nice studio with a
dedicated isolation room. It is going to be an awesome space to record
in, I can't wait to start using it.
In December I received my new
Jackson SL2-MAH electric guitar. It is a soloist that has a mahogany
body and a maple top. It looks and plays great. I will try to get
pictures up online soon. I did have to have the truss rod adjusted
because the neck was starting to back bow. One I had it adjusted the
back bow was completely gone.
Let's see, I got some new pedals:
Boss Chorus - pretty kick ass, a really nice chorus pedal. Boss Metal
Zone - an excellent pedal. I mainly get my main distortion from a
head, but I usually split my guitar signal to two amps and record two
tracks at a time. So on one track I'll go straight to the head, on the
other I'll use a distortion pedal. So in the end I get four different
sounding rhythm tracks form two takes. This will give me a lot of
options when I get ready to mix down. Dan Electro - .
Also, I host my website through
Yahoo. Recently they have moved my website to a different server.
Since then my email page has not been working correctly. Please email
me directly at
curtshaw@curtshaw.com.
|
08.13.07
OK! One song is completely done! So right now I'm practicing an
acoustic bluegrass song and will record that as soon as I am ready. I
also am editing two drum tracks, not that they really need much
editing. Allen Lind (http://www.allenlind.com/)has
completed the drum tracks for the third song. He did a great job as
usual.
My friend Dan Lynch
http://www.myspace.com/superatomic came over recently. We
did side by side tests comparing the POD to the JCM2000, JCM800, and
Mesa Dual Rectifier heads. The POD performed pretty well and had a lot
of characteristics of the heads. It seemed like the POD did not move
air the way a head and cab do, you can feel the sound more with a
head. But the POD was pretty cool in the way you could add a tube
screamer or change the speakers. My mindset at this time is with using
heads for recording. I think I would use a head for gigging as well,
but it's hard to say.
Have a great month!
|
07.04.07
Hello. It's been a while since I've updated this page. I have been
working a lot on the new CD. So Far I have the drums and rhythms
recorded for three songs. One song is almost completely done with
leads as well. I also have an acoustic song written, but not recorded
yet. So I plan on finishing up the one song completely. From there I
will move on to editing drums, recording bass, and writing and
recording leads for the other two. I am also working on writing a new
song. This new song will be influenced by Japanese music. I have
already come up with a melody line, but have a long way to go.
I'm also trying to get a band going around the
Winchester area. For this area a southern rock band makes a lot of
sense, but who knows, it could morph into something else.
Happy Fourth of July!!!!!
|
02.25.07
Hello, Not to much going on. Just practicing a lot. I did complete my
new isolation cabinet. Please check out the complete process here.
Link to Isolation Cabinet. |
01.17.07
Hello, I hope everyone had a great time over the holidays! I have been keeping pretty busy. I’ve got the second song
for the new release sent to Allen Lind (http://www.allenlind.com/)Allen will be playing and recording the drums for the
new song.
I have a new video on YouTube. Check it out here!
I finished rewiring my Jackson soloist with Brian May pickups, the wiring went pretty well. After I completed
it, it was humming like a mofo. I realized that I had wired the input jack backwards. So I corrected that
and now it still hums a little bit. I’m thinking that maybe it is because I used an old jack that is a
little tarnished. I’m going to replace that jack and hope like hell the hum goes away. If not I will be
pissed off. It was a real pain wiring that guitar. Some lessons that I learned 1. Use stranded wire, solid
wires tends to break!! 2. I tried to solder the ground to a push/pull pot. Since the pot is so big, it was
hard to heat and hard to get the solder to stick to it, I actually had to heat it to the point where it
damaged the switch. This pissed me off. 3. Don’t use old parts i.e. old jacks. Click here for the wiring
diagram and PICs.
My next project that I already started is a new isolation cabinet for recording guitar. I have already
started putting it together but it is on hold until I get the acoustical caulk that I ordered. I will have
PICs of the complete project soon.
I’m also still practicing my first lead for the first song. I had planned on recording it last weekend, but
I really wasn’t ready. I’ll probably keep practicing it and record it in a few weeks when the isolation
cabinet is done.
I am pleased to announce that the Curt Shaw CD is for sale on two additional websites http://www.echorider.com
and http://www.abstractlogix.com/xcart/product.php?productid=21928 .
I was also contacted by Mikolaj Furmankiewicz from Poland. Mikolaj has a website called www.hmpmagazine.imn1.pl.
Mikolaj is working on a section called the Department of Virtuosity www.hmpmagazine.imn1.pl/index.php?m=dov.
This section is still under construction. This printed HMP magazine is accessible in every bigger city in
Poland. There have been printed 30 issues since 2000. HMP MAGAZINE is a bi-monthly one. I have sent CDs to
Mikolaj and look forward to hearing from him soon.
I was also contacted by Andreas Kopp from Austria. Andreas request the use of Class Sick for use in a video be hosted
on his website www.darkscorner.de. I am really looking forward to seeing the finished product!
Have a great month!
|
12.09.06
Hey! Thanks for checking in! I have written a lead for the first new
song and have just about completed a second song. The rhythm for the
second song has been a little of a challenge. It has an odd little
accent in it that I have been practicing to get perfect for recording.
I will probably be ready to record it on 12/16.
I received my POD XT and also purchased the Bass
Pack for it. I think the POD is great for bass. I'm really happy with
the sound I got when I recorded the bass for the first song. I really
haven't checked it out for guitar yet.
Sales are going well on the Guitar9 website and It's
really cool that I am in the top 10 for Heavy Metal sales.
Check it out here!
I found some great software for writing guitar tab.
It is
TablEdit. Check out the Demo version! Now that I have this awesome
tool, I'm going to be writing lessons. Hopefully I will get them on
the Guitar9 website.
Here is the link to the article that I wrote for
Guitarz For Ever ,
http://www.guitarz-for-ever.com/recording-guitar-striving-for-perfection.html
Check it
out! It's about getting ready to record.
I'm wiring my black Jackson Soloist up with Brain
May single coil pickups. I have all of the pickups and a 5 way
super switch. I still have to order two 250k pots with switches built
in. I plan on being able to combine the pickups in series (most
guitars combine pickups in parallel). Having the pickups in series is
the key to getting a Brian May (Queen) sound. I'm pretty psyched about
completing this and will have pictures of my wiring diagram and my
wiring/soldering job.
Have a great Christmas!
|
10.22.05
I have been working on two new originals for the next release. So far
I have drums, rhythm guitar, and some leads recorded for one of
the songs. I also have some of the melodic leads recorded. I wrote the
bass part for one of the songs today and will record it next week.
I also ordered a POD XT and should have it next week. I
am really only going to use it to record bass. I don't see myself
using it to much for guitar, but you never know.
I wrote an article for
http://www.guitarz-for-ever.com . It is an article about getting
the best results for your recoding session. It should be posted soon
so check back for the exact URL.
I am writing some symphonic type parts to some of
the songs, so I started listening to some more classical music. Trying
to get ideas and influences.
I decided to quit doing the monthly Curt Shaw's
Metal Show podcast. It was just to hard to find bands that wanted to
participate. So maybe I will revive it in the future or make it
tri-monthly.
Recent CD purchases - Exodus, Bonded by Blood - This
is a great CD. I had the cassette way back when. This is great old
school trash. The lyrics are really sick, especially for the time when
it was released. Exodus had a quirky writing style. I don't know
how to describe it, other that it's very angular. I also got Aerosmith,
Aerosmith. This is also a great CD that has some songs that I love to
jam along with. This CD is a great lesson in the blues style and
represents Aerosmith when they were raw and uncorrupted by the
corporate music business.
|
09.05.06
Not much going on just recording some leads for a new song. I'm trying
to hold myself to a higher standard and not accept a take that I think
may be a hair sloppy. So I'm taking more time to record.
There are some cool bands on the podcast this month.
They are Steve Gladman,
Lions Share,
Neglected Fields,
and
Michael Troy. Check it out here.
I also have a MySpace page now. Please check it out
and become a friend/post a comment. Here is the link to my page
Http://www.myspace.com/curtshawrock .
|
08.01.06
Hey! Be sure to check out this months podcast "Curt Shaw's Metal
Show"! It features the following bands:
Stemm,
St. Madness,
Head,
Faustian X, and
Niels Vijlyt.
I recorded the rhythm tracks for my new songs. Before I
recorded the song I recorded 5 of my guitars to see which sounded the
best for recording. It was a close call between my Jackson V, my
Jackson Soloist, and my Yamaha SG1500. I thought the SG1500 sounded
the best. So I recorded a track with the 30th anniversary head, the
Yamaha, and the EV speaker. Then I double tracked it with the Jackson
V, the 30th Anniversary head, and a GT-75 speaker. I recorded a
third rhythm track (probably won't use it) with the Jackson V, the
30th head, and the EV speaker. I think the guitar sounds pretty good.
I think the API A2D preamps help a lot. So now I am practicing some of
the lead parts that are hard as hell to play fast and clean.
I also ordered a Monster Pro1000 speaker cable and a
Monster Pro1000 Instrument Cable to record with. I'm hoping this will
help capture a better sound (every little bit helps). I already have
Monster Pro1000 Microphone cables as well.
I've got a myspace page, but I'm still working on
uploading the music, should be done soon.
Have a great month!
|
07.01.06
I finally got my API A2D preamp and have been experimenting with it. I
think it sounds great. I have done a lot of testing with mic placement
and also comparing different speakers to see what sounds best. I found
that every speaker does in fact have a sweet spot where the microphone
should be. It tends to be near the center of the speaker from what I
have found. I have four different types of speakers - Celestion
greenback 70 watt, EV 30 Anniversary, EV stock, and stock GT -75
Celestions. I miked each of these speakers and kept moving the mic
until I found the sweet spot. I kept the recording of each speaker as
well, and was able to compare them. I liked the GT-75 and the speaker
in the 30th anniversary. I did all of this testing with the same
Marshall head and the same guitar. I also found that if you don't have
the mic in the right place it will sound like you are recording
through a blanket. So now I am prepared to actually start recording
some guitar rhythm tracks for a new song I'm working on. I will get
started on that this weekend.This months podcast "Curt
Shaw's Metal Show" features the following bands:
Parlay,
Anton Tsygankov,
and Thomas Tallchief.
Also don't forget to check out my
internet radio station!
I got a couple of good reviews this month:
http://www.geocities.com/behind_the_veil2001/Main.html - A few
days ago I received a package from the United States that contained
the latest self titled album of Curt Shaw. Curt has released this
album as an instrumental one and as you can imagine you will have the
chance to enjoy twelve tracks and about forty five minutes of crushing
guitar riffs and remarkable solos. Usually when I receive albums that
don’t have vocals, I am a little bit nervous, because besides the fact
that I listen to them more than once of course, sometimes I feel a
little bored. Perhaps it’s because I can’t play the guitar, maybe
because I’m used to listening to vocals too. Anyway, the thing that I
adore on this album is the fact that even if it is an instrumental
album, I almost didn’t care about it. The love that Curt has for his
own work and the way he has written the songs is incredible. I mean
that he tried to write the songs as if they had vocals and maybe this
gives to the listener the feeling that maybe in the next guitar riff
he will hear a singer. Last but not least I’d like to note the fact
that I really enjoyed the time I spent with this album; I hope you
will like it as I do!
Official Site:
www.curtshaw.com
E-mail Band:
curtshaw@curtshaw.com
http://rockfest.blogspot.com/
- Heavy jamming with the best of them, Curt Shaw extudes the smooth
percision of the craftsman deftly laying down smoking sweeps, running
through classical modes like an understudy. He is without a doubt over
the top, and he does not regret it one iota. If there is space, there
is rip. A couple of breaks maybe here and there, but soon Shaw dashes
back in and completely shreds. He has an excellent backup band in Nick
Prysiazny clock perfecting the drums and Wayne Barry coming through
like a tank on bass. Finest moment could be though when he steps back
a pace from the blistering and puts more riff in his sweet (groove on
the excellent "Egyptian Moon"). At times he is simply overwhelming
fire power (listen to first of no-pun intending "I Am Not A Viking").
This guitar for the serious guitarist. He'll even slow his horse down
a notch for the western-appalachian waltzy disc completer "The Trail".
It is but a rare respite from all hell breaking loose! The man can
tear it up! Contact: http://www.curtshaw.com
I also sent a CD out to this radio show:
http://metalmorfose.blogspot.com
|
06.01.06
Wow, It's June already. Time is flying! I haven't been up to much
other than practicing a lot. I've been practicing an acoustic intro
that I am going to record this weekend. I'm also getting together with
a drummer to jam this weekend. I did get my new Protools Digi002
installed and it seems to work fine. I compared the Digi002 mic
preamps to the preamps in my mixing board and found that there is a
big difference. I like the ones in my mixing board a lot better. The
digi002 preamps sound a little tinny with a weak bottom end. So my new
quest is to buy a nice preamp. I'd like to try out 5 or 6 before I buy
but I'm not sure how that is going to work out. I have my eye on the
API 512c or the API A2D which features and A to D converter as well.
There are a few other models I would like to check out.This months podcast "Curt
Shaw's Metal Show" features the following bands:
Gareth Thomas , Vindex,
Neglected Fields,
James D Gilmore,
and Francesco Fereri.
Also don't forget to check out my
internet radio station! All of the songs were
recently updated!
|
05.08.06
Well May was a pretty busy month for me. I got married to my new wife
Jodi on the 22nd and then went to Punta Cana for the honey moon.
Everything went great with the wedding and we had an awesome time on
the trip to Punta Cana.I have upgraded my PC
and also ordered my new Protools Digi 002 rack system. I should have
it delivered within a week or so and I'm already practicing a new song
to record once I get it installed. I still want to order a new mic
Preamp before I get to deep into recording.
This months podcast "Curt
Shaw's Metal Show" features the following bands:
Matt Mckay
,
Phil Lewis ,
and
Until Escape.
Also don't forget to check out my
internet radio station!
|
04.01.06
Hey! I have written one song and recorded a demo of the rhythm and
drums on protools. I think it is a pretty cool song but I think that I
still need to work on it some more and add some more parts to it.
I started upgrading my recording system. I ordered a new Tyan mother board, a 3 gig P4, and a gig of memory. I started putting
it together on Saturday and found out that ATX power supplies are now
different. There are several different flavors of ATX power supplies
and it is kind of confusing. I have an ATX power supply and an ATX
motherboard, but now I need an EPS ATX power supply that has 24 pins
on the connector. So I had to order a new power supply. I'm also going
to upgrade my Protools setup to the digi002R which uses firewire to
connect to the PC.
The podcast this month is great! You have to check
it out. It includes the following bands:
Bulb,
Lionsgate,
Fredrik Pihl, and
Circle of Force.
Click here to check it out!
Also don't forget to check out my
internet radio station!
I've updated the
Question and Answer page, only this time I was asking the
questions to Randy Cuffe.
Randy is a great guitarist from Maryland. I was listening to some of
Randy's tunes and had to ask him how he captures his guitar for
recording.
This month I mailed some CDs to an Australian radio
program called Fretnet. I also
received reviews from
Mario's
Metal Mania and
Maelstrom.
|
03.01.06
Hey! Hope you are doing well! CD sales still doing well and I have
picked up a couple more reviews and an interview as well.
Heavy Metal Masters Review,
Blood Dawn
Review (German),
Les Acteurs de l'Ombre (French), and
more are on the way! I also have a profile at
Ball Buster Hard Music
webzine (in the Axe Banger section).
The podcast is kicking this month with
some great bands. This month I have:
Ariadna Project,
Grant Tregallas,
Lions Share,
Nameless One,
Envy, and Andrea Bottino.
Check it out here!
I've recorded a template in protools for a new
original, but I really haven't done much with it. I need to practice
it more and then do the final recording for an acoustic part.
As always don't forget to check out my
internet radio station!
Accomplishments this month: Now registered with
ASCAP for writing and publishing, Sold a bunch of stuff on ebay as a
start towards getting my new mic preamp, Now selling my release on
Amazon.com, Sent promo package to Black Lotus Records, Put a review on
Guitar9.com, completed an interview for
Les Acteurs de l'Ombre, set up
a Curt Shaw site at
SoundClick.com and uploaded 2 mp3's, Submitted a profile to
Ball Buster Webzine. |
02.01.06
Hey! I hope you New year is going great and that you are keeping your
resolutions! The CD sales are going well and I have been working a lot
on promotion. here are a couple of reviews out now (one is in German)
http://www.powermetal.de/cdreview/review-7039.html and
West Side Dave. More are on the way!
I also will have an interview coming out on
http://www.lordsofmetal.nl
I recently jammed with my good friend Reece. Reece
plays with Go Smack Alice and is an awesome guitar player.
Photo Looking forward to doing it
again soon!
The February podcast "Curt Shaw's Metal Show" is now
online and features Dies Ire,
Sabaton,
Unbroken,
Stairway . This is a
great show! Check it out here
Also don't forget to check out my
internet radio station!
I actually started writing for the next CD, I really
didn't mean to, it just happened. It's an acoustic piece that is
pretty cool. I'm going to try to layer two guitars that are doing
something different but yet compliment each other. The new CD should
be out in the year 2020, just kidding. Hopefully it will be a lot
sooner than that. |
01.01.06
Happy New Year! I hope your holidays were great! Things are
going well and I have been focusing a lot on promoting the CD "Curt
Shaw" (click here for info).
So far I have sent the CD to around 60 webzines. Most of them are in
Europe. So far I have been getting great responses and should see some
reviews soon. I am getting set up to also sell the CD on
Guitar 9. They have a pretty
cool site that is geared more towards instrumental guitar players. I
also have contacted some of the better labels trying to get a
distribution deal. The bad part of this is that promoting the CD is
taking about three hours a day and that does not leave much time for
actually playing guitar. But hopefully that will change soon once I
have most of the promotion stuff done.The
January podcast "Curt Shaw's Metal Show" is complete and has the
following bands: One Bullet Left, Aldo Vaccaro, John Mizarolli,
Silvertung, and Unbroken. Check it out here!
I started designing my walk-in isolation room that
will host two 4x12 cabinets. I am going to use that for recording. I
will document the whole building process and post it on the website. I
also am in the process of dumping all of my old ADAT tapes into
protools. Once I have that done I am going to sell my ADAT and buy a
new preamp and compressor. I have my eye on an API 512c preamp and
also would like to have an EL Distressor compressor. These are units
that are used in professional studios and will help me capture a
better guitar sound.
Also don't forget to check out my
internet radio station!
|
12.04.05
Curt Shaw's new release "Curt Shaw" is now available
(Click here for details). I received
1000 copies and have already sent them to CD baby to sell online. I
also am in the process of selling them on Amazon, MP3.com, Apple
Itunes, and others. A lot of my time is going toward promoting the CD,
it takes a lot of time to get things set up.
The December Podcast is now online! It
features some great bands like
One Bullet Left,
Urban Snake, Matt McKay, Curt
Shaw, and The Pocket Gods.
One thing that I plan on working on is setting up
the podcast in streaming audio. Right now it is a 30 meg mp3 files and
takes a long time to download if you don't have a high speed
connection. So I need to do something for the dial up users to make it
more accessible. Also my internet radio station
"Metal Guitar Spotlight" is still on line and
I just refreshed all of the song that are on it. You can hear some of
the best metal guitarists and it also works great on a dial up
connection!
Have a great Christmas!!! |
11.02.05
Well the CD is a done deal. I have the artwork completed and I have
signed off on it. I have sent the master CD and they should have that
within the next two days. So I should receive 1000 CDs in a couple of
weeks.It has been an interesting experience
with a lot of small problems. I had the CD mastered and then
discovered distortion on two of the tracks. So I had to have the two
songs remixed to get rid of the noise. Cue recording did this for
free. Then I had the two songs re-mastered. Part of the re-mastering
was to split one long song into two songs. When we did this it created
a pop on the final CD. So I had to have them re-master that song and
burn another CD. Now everything is perfect with the mastered CD. So I
sent it to be manufactured via UPS. In the process of sending it there
was a time where the CD could not be located with the tracking number,
that just about gave me an aneurism. But that is all straight now!
The November episode of "Curt Shaw's Metal Show"
podcast is now available for download here.
The podcast features Images of Eden, Not Inc, and Dark Illusion. This
is a great show with some great music, so check it out!
I'm going to check out the band Opeth on this
weekend. Should be a great show. Be sure to check them out at
http://www.opeth.com
|
09.20.05
Hey! I'm just waiting to get back into the studio to continue the mix
down process. I go back in the second week in October and then go in
for mastering the following week.I do have
two previews of songs on my CD. They are in MP3 format, so check them
out! classic.mp3 and
arp.mp3
I also started my own internet radio station called
Metal Guitar Spotlight. It features some cool metal with an emphasis
on kick ass guitar players. You can access the
radio station here.
I also now have a podcast of my monthly show "Curt
Shaw's Metal Show". This podcast features some of the coolest unsigned
bands. This month's podcast features Driveset, Fear 44, and Scarlet
Angel. You can access the podcast here. If
you know of a band that would like to be featured on my show, please
email me.
|
08.22.05
I went in to mix at Cue recording studios on the 17th and 18th.
Overall the process is going good BUT!!!!! The second day I was there
their computer died so I have to reschedule, AND!!! of course they are
booked up until October SO!!!! The CD will not be mixed until October.
This completely blows.
I have learned a lot while in the studio. Mixing is an acquired skill
that should be left to the experts. The mixes are sounding good and
should only require minor tweaks. One thing I learned is to schedule
enough time. You will need a minimum of one hour per song, but in
reality closer to two hours per song. And you know what that means - mo
money, mo money, mo money! But hey you have to get it done right.
The next step will be mastering the CD. Cha-Ching! $90 dollars per
hour. It is recommended to have one hour per song for mastering.
I am presently considering having my own internet radio station. I
am also working on creating my own podcast. One of the things I would
like to do is to promote local unsigned bands on the radio and podcast.
If you are interested in submitting an MP3 please let me know. |
08.05.05
I've been working my but off
getting ready to go into the studio. I'm working on bouncing each
track to a wav file. This is very time consuming. Before I bounce each
track, I also have to verify that there are no clicks or pops at the
points were I punched in. If there are I have to create a fade to
eliminate the pop.I think I have a pretty good picture for the CD
cover. I think it will reflect what the CD is about and there will be
no question as to what the style of music will be. I am going to
have the CD replicated at Media Services Inc. I have used them before
and was happy with the results. I now have a finished bio and will be
finalizing my press kit.
I also have been heavily researching how to promote the CD. I have
a ton of ideas. So far it looks like the top two sites for online
distribution are CDBaby.com and MP3.com, I will probably use both of
these sites.
I have re-enabled the guestbook. Please sign it if you get time.
Please remember to include you email address! |
07.17.05
I've pretty much finished
recording for the CD! Yesterday I recorded some acoustic leads for the
song "Deny Your Past". I think they turned out pretty good. The only
thing I have to do now is just go through each song and see if they
need anything additional. I'm thinking about throwing some keyboards
in a couple of parts and also may play one more lead at the end of one
of the songs.I've booked studio time at Cue Recording Studios
www.cuerecording.com for the
mixing of the CD. I have 10 hours scheduled for August 17 and 18. It
is a nice studio, check out the web site. I will be in studio A. I
have a lot of work to do to get my music imported into the studio's
protools. I have the LE version of protools and the studio has the TDM
version. So I have to mix down each track to a standard wave file to
import it into the studios protools. So since there are 32 tracks on
some of the songs I will have to record 32 waves, so that should take
about 4 hours per song.
I went to Illinois over the fourth to visit family and friends.
Check out some of the pictures of the guitars that my friend
Jim Riddle has painted. Jim is available for
custom paint jobs. Email me for details.
I have designed a logo. I have the rough version that I will submit
to my artist for the finalized version. It looks pretty cool so far.
I'm also in the process of getting pictures taken for the CD cover. |
06.18.05
I recorded the last electric
lead yesterday. All I have to do now is record 2 acoustic leads and
the CD will pretty much be done. I might have a couple of little parts
to record after I go through and listen to everything. But the end is
coming! I've started checking into studios for the mixing process. I
think I am going to go with Cue Recording in Falls Church Va. They
have some nice equipment and a pretty good rates.
I caught Testament
at Jaxx in Virginia. It was a pretty good show. Testament had the 100%
original lineup. They only played the old stuff that they wrote and
recorded together. This was sort of cool because I got to hear a lot
of stuff I hadn't heard in a long time. But it also meant that I
didn't get to hear some of Testaments really kick ass stuff off of
"Low". The band pretty much rocked, as always. Testament is a powerful
band. The sound man could have done a better job. you could hear the
vocals plain as day, but the guitar solos where another story. Why is
it that a national band can't get a sound man that can boost the
solos? Jaxx has a pretty nice light setup, but you would not have
known it because the person running lights did nothing impressive. But
overall Testament rocked and it was great to see the original lineup
playing all of the older stuff.
Tonight - Judas Priest at Nissan Pavilion!
I also went to Vegas
and had a blast! Here are some pictures from the
trip. |
04.24.05
I've gotten several more leads
recorded. Right now I am completely done with all of the songs except
for three. These three songs have multiple leads in them, but I am
planning on knocking them out. Once I'm done recording I am going to
go into a studio and have them mixed and mastered. |
03.25.05
I recorded what is probably the
hardest lead on the new CD today. It went pretty smoothly. I ended up
recording one part and then realizing it wasn't cutting it so I wrote
something else on the spot and it sounded 100 times better. So stick a
fork in that one it's done! I think I have about 7 more leads to write
and record. but they shouldn't be that hard and hopefully I can knock
them out.
I also backed up all of my recording data onto a second internal
drive and also onto an external drive. |
02.24.05
I recorded another lead for the
CD on Monday. I had been practicing it for about a month. It contains
some extended arpeggios and some advanced multi string tapping that
was kind of a stretch for me, that's why it took so long. I'm working
on the next lead right now. It is already written and is hard as hell
to play. I hope it wont take to long to master. I think I've got about
seven or so leads left to record and then it will be a done deal.
I
did get windows XP installed on my recording PC. I was then able to
upgrade protools to a 32 track version. That is great, the extra
tracks give me a little more breathing room.
I caught Queensryche in Philadelphia. It was a great show. They
played one set of greatest hits, then they played the entire Mind
Crime cd. It was a great show.
I got the Metallica DVD "Some Kind of Monster" as a gift recently.
It is an interesting DVD. After watching the DVD it is very
understandable why the latest Metallica release sucks! They changed
there whole writing process for St Anger. They used to do more writing
individually. James and Lars would get together and write most of the
material. For St Anger they changed this and tried to write all of the
songs as a group. I've been through this before. Sometimes it works
and sometimes it doesn't. When you try to write as a group sometimes
you end up compromising more by accepting an idea that someone else
suggests. You don't want to reject their idea because you are trying
to work as a team. Then later after it's to late to turn back you
really realize that you don't like the idea, you get bummed on the
whole song, you get bummed on the whole project, and then it's just a
downward spiral from there. Writing as a group can work out well but a
lot of things just have to work out for it to happen. After being in
Matallica for so long, they are all burnt out on each other, that is
not the time to try writing as a group.
One other problem with Metallica was the fact that James Hetfield
was going through rehab and a lot of personnel problems during the
recording process. he disappeared for a year, and then when he came
back only wanted to work on the release for four hours a day. I always
assumed that Lars was the difficult band member, but after watching
the dvd it really comes down to James.
I also always assumed that the producer Bob Rock got in the way of
the creative process too much, I really did not see that as the case
while watching the dvd. Although I don't really think he should have
played bass on the release.
Metallica even had a psychologist on board for the entire recording
process. They were tip toeing around each other and trying to be
non-offensive to each other just to get through the recording process.
There was also a part where Kirk stood up and defended the right to
have guitar solos in some of the songs. I respected that and agreed
with him, BUT there is not one guitar solo on the whole release.
I hope Metallica can get their act together. The only way that I
see anything good coming out of Metallica is if James and Lars truly
rebuild there relationship (probably won't happen), or if they just
suck it up and work together to create something, or if James works
with another drummer to write, Lars works with another guitar player
to write, and then they get together to merge the ideas - but if they
do that they might as well just do new side projects or form new
bands. I am hopeful that they can still put something good out.
Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom before you can get better. To me
St Anger was as close to rock bottom as you can get. I hope they
realize this and maybe it will light a fire under their ass for the
next release. |
01.17.05
I recorded a pretty hard lead
part today. I did the usual and practiced it for three weeks before
recording it and I think it came out pretty good. I didn't know if I'd
be able to do it today because I've been feeling kind of rough lately,
but I knocked it out. I also finished editing the last drum track
today. But while doing the last song I thought of something else that
I want to check out (all of the cymbals and the high hat). So I am
going to start looking at that.I started working on a bluegrass
song today called Black Mountain Rag. I first heard Chet Atkins play
it and have always wanted to learn it. I found the sheet music so I
started working on it.
I ordered windows XP pro and should be getting that tomorrow. I am
going to load it up on a spare hard drive. That will allow me to
upgrade my protools to a 32 track version. Right now I only have 24
tracks. The extra eight tracks will give me some flexibility.
I got the Morely Bad Horsie Wah Wah pedal for Christmas. I think it
is great. I am going to try to create a web page where I can review
the different pieces of gear that I get. I also want to get some more
videos and some updated lessons on the web site. I've really been
slacking on that. |
12.25.04
I'm still busy recording
leads. I recorded the intro for a song called Joust today. I also have
been practicing the lead for a song called ? (it hasn't been named
yet). :-) but I am going to record it this Wednesday. I have just been
practicing it a lot. Right now I am just cycling through the leads. I
pick one and practice it for two or three weeks then record it. I
still have to write some leads but it will be the same process. Write
it, practice it, then record it. I'd say I'm putting about 2 hours a
day in to the CD. I also started going over the drum tracks to make
sure they are good. Since we recorded the kick and snare with midi
drums the tracks need to be checked to make sure that there are no
false triggers. If there are I edit them out. |
10.20.04
I started recording lead
parts. I have about half of the guitar leads written. I want to record
these parts before I write the rest. Trying to keep track of these
leads can get confusing so I want to record these. I have been
practicing the parts that are written for about 2 months. Then I
picked one to focus on and practiced that part for about and hour a
day (over and over again) for two weeks. I got it recorded and it came
out well. I had a strange problem with my recording software though. I
had to punch in one of the lead parts. Protools lets you do a
crossfade between the two parts so that you don't have any pops
between the parts. Well for some reason this did not work today. I
found a way around it though. Now I will pick another lead part and
practice it for a couple of weeks and then record it. I might even
write another lead part now that one is recorded.
I upgraded my hard
drives on my recording PC to two 50 gig SCSI drives. This was kind of
a Pain in the but. I had major issues but finally got them both
working. I started recording my old demo cassette tapes into Protools
and burning them onto CDs. This will be and ongoing project.
I saw Michael Schenker and Uli John Roth at Jaxx in Springfield
Virginia. Michael Schenker rocked! He played a lot of old UFO tunes
and the band pulled them off well. Michael's playing was very good
that night. They also had an awesome bass player. Uli John Roth was
very different. I have admired Uli for the releases that he did with
the Scorpions in the 70's. I respect him as a guitar player. But his
show was kind of boring. He had a rhythm guitar player, but the drums
and keyboards were on a tape recording. He played a lot of symphonic
pieces that were cool, but just not really what the crowd wanted. He
also seemed a little bit sloppy.
There is a big difference between playing live and recording. When
you are playing live you can play a little sloppier. But when you
record it's tougher because even if you nail all of the notes in a
solo you have to listen for any noise behind the notes (open strings,
string scrapes, etc.) So I would say if you have ambitions to record,
then you should focus on this when you are practicing. Try to make
sure that there is no background noise in your solos, focus on what is
going on in the background. The reason I suggest this is because I
know it is something I have to pay attention to when I record. I
wonder if it is a problem for someone like Steve Vai? You would never
know it from listening to his CDs! |
09.12.04
I haven't really been updating
this page much because If I did I would just keep saying the same
thing over and over again. I have just been practicing and writing
leads. Last weekend I recorded a lead and this weekend I wrote another
lead part. I feel like I've been making pretty good progress. I
ordered 2 new SCSI hard drives for my recording PC. I got two 50 gig
drives. I'm also planning on transferring all of my ADAT and cassette
tapes onto ProTools and then dumping them to DVD or CD. I will
probably transfer the master of Krypic's first release "Among the
Ruins" onto CD also. I'm planning on seeing Uli John Roth and
Michael Schenker this Friday in Virginia, that should be pretty cool.
One thing that I've been thinking about is what I will do
differently when I record my next CD. I think I will try to complete
one song at a time. I will write a song, record a midi drum scratch
track, record all of the instruments, then let the drummer record the
drums. I think this will work better because my goal will be just
finishing on song at a time. Also the drummer will benefit
because all of the guitar parts will be there when he records. This is
important for knowing where the drums can showcase without stepping on
the song. For this CD I recorded scratch tracks for all of the songs,
then recorded the drums for all of the songs. Then I had the
intimidating task of recording all parts for all songs. This is a very
large task and can be overwhelming. |
07.23.04
I've been writing leads and
practicing a lot. I also bought a Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster.
It has a solid ash body, 3 single coils, and locking tuners. It is a
butter scotch color with a black pick guard. It also has a special
switch that recombines the pickups for additional sounds. I love the
guitar, it sounds great! It seems like the guitar has a really good
sound for country, it has a lot of snap to it. It also sounds great
for metal too. I also bought a Marshall 60 watt Triple Super Lead
head. It sounds great also. I went to OzFest. It was OK. I enjoyed
Judas Priest but other than that it was just OK. A lot of bands sound
great on CD but then when you see them live it just sounds like total
distortion. Even Slayer didn't sound that great ,and I really like
Slayer. I thought some of the newer bands kind of sucked though. I
jammed with my Buddies in Illinois and we recorded a few songs of us
improvising. It was a lot of fun and some of the songs were pretty
cool. New DVD's that I bought - Guns and Roses Use your Illusion I (
pretty good) and Dream Theatre Images and Words/5 Years in a Live Time
( haven't seen it all but it looks cool). |
06.05.04
I was off of work this week so
I put some time into the CD. Last Sunday I recorded a bass line using
a synthesizer. I spent about an hour finding a really cool bass sound,
then spent an hour creating the midi track for the song. Then I spent
an hour recording it. End result - It sounded like crap. I wasted
about 4 hours when I could have just hooked up a real bass and knocked
it out in 10 minutes. Oh well, that happens sometimes. I got a lot of
practice in this week but I also wrote another lead for one of my
songs. I thought I would have got a lot more done this week but
with building a shed, a company picnic, 2 weddings, mowing the lawn,
and building a guitar hanging system, I didn't have time. I built a
guitar hanging system that holds 11 guitars. It turned out really
cool. Click here to check it out! |
05.15.04
I wrote another lead for a
song tentatively called Hammertime. I've been practicing the two leads
that I have written so far. Over the last week I rerecorded the drums
for a song that was originally recorded using ADAT recorders. I
originally recorded the drums from a yamaha drum machine. After
listening to the drums I thought it would nice if I could update the
drums with better drum sounds. This was a problem since the original
MIDI files no longer existed and also the tempo of the recording did
not match perfectly with protools. I ended up recreating midi files
within protools for the drum patterns that were already recorded. I
had to slide them around to match up with the previously recorded
drums. then I re-recoded them to replace the old drum tracks. It
worked out well in the end.Concert Review: Brides of Destruction,
JAXX, Springfield VA, May 01, 2004
I was not 100% stoked on seeing this show. I always thought Motley
Crue was a little bit of a bubble gum band back in the day and I never
really cared for LA Guns. But I do have to say I was wrong. This was a
very entertaining show. The band consists of :
London LeGrand – vocals
Nikki
Sixx – bass
Tracii Guns – guitar
Scot
Coogan – drums
The band had great stage presence, they looked like they were
having a blast. But the music also kicked ass. In the past I never
thought Traci was that great on guitar, but he was pulling off a good
solid, impressive solo in every song. London did a great job on vocals
also. They played the new BOD songs from the new album and then after
a break played two LA GUNS songs (I could have skipped them) and then
they played Looks That Kill and Shout at the Devil from Crue. I would
recommend seeing this band if they come to your town!
|
04.23.04
I have written a lead for the
song Apollo. I think it is pretty well thought out, but it is pretty
hard to play. It will take some practice to get it up to speed. I
wrote and recorded a lead for a different part of Apollo. Right now
I’m just working on practicing and writing the leads. I don’t really
want to just improvise all of the leads. I went and saw Yngwie and
George Lynch in Baltimore. I only caught a few songs by George but he
really seemed like he was on top of his game that night. His leads
sounded great. Yngwie was great as usual. He played a long solo that
was based around delay, it was great the first time but then they
played a song and then he kind of did the same solo again. Yngwie is
so good but after a while the leads tend to sound the same and it gets
old. He is still awesome though. I have rented a space where I can
practice during my lunch break. This will work out well for practicing
the leads I will have to record. |
03.07.04
I worked on recording two
parts this weekend. Both are parts that I have been practicing for a
few weeks now. One part was recorded successfully but the other gave
me some problems. Since I have been practicing the part to a metronome
I cut everything out of the mix except for the click tack while I
recorded. I spent two hours recording the part and had it in sync with
the click track. But when I listened to it with the drums it did not
work. The problem was that the part is really busy for guitar and
drums and the drums aren't perfectly in sync with the click track. So
I will re-record this part next weekend and record it with the drums
for the reference instead of the click track. I think it is natural
for drummers to vary slightly from the click track while recording.
People are not drum machines and that is a good thing. I have a
definite plan for re-recording the part next weekend and shouldn't be
to hard. I also blocked off the tremolo on my yellow Jackson today
before I started recording. The part I was recording required some two
string bends that are kind of weird to do on a guitar with a whammy
bar. So I blocked it off with a small piece of plywood that can be
removed any time. I also bought the Boss GT-6 effects processor but
ended up returning it. I really didn't get to check it out as much as
I wanted to. It seemed pretty cool. I really wanted to check out the
digital output. I ended up returning it because other than the added
digital output, it didn't sound to much better than the GT-5 which I
already have. |
02.03.04
I still have been practicing
with a metronome and it is paying off. I now have two guitar parts
that I need to record. I started out playing them at 60 and 160 beats
per minute. Now I can play them at 100 and 185 which are the tempos of
the songs. I will try to record them next weekend but I may also just
keep practicing them for a while. I also bought 15 guitar
hangers for my studio. I am going to have all of my guitars hanging up
so I can access them easily. |
01.06.04
Nothing really new going
on, just practicing a lot. There are a couple of new questions on the
Question and Answer
page. |
12.29.03
I started working on a
couple of cool things. I have a song that is totally based on a diminished
scale. Even the rhythm is diminished. So I am starting to work on lead parts for
the song. I have been studying the theory behind diminished scales. There are
only two different scalar patterns for diminished. These patterns are repeated
at different positions of the neck. These two patterns are different from the
generic 4 note per string diminished scale. These scales contain 3 notes per
string
|--------------------------------------3-5-6-|
|------------------------------4-5-7---------|
|-----------------------3-5-6----------------|
|----------------4-5-7-----------------------|
|---------4-6-7------------------------------|
|-5-6-8--------------------------------------|
The two patterns are: 1. Half/Whole this scale is 1, b2, #2, 3, #4,
5, 6, b7 (half step, whole step, half step, whole step, half step, whole step,
half step). 2. Whole/Half this scale is 1 , 2, b3, 4, b5, b6, 6, 7 (whole step,
half step, whole step, half step, whole step, half step, whole step). The key
I'm playing in has the following notes: A, Bb, C, C#, D#, E, F#, G
I also started watching a Yngwie instructional video that has a really cool fast
diminished riff. I am now practicing that with a metronome. |
12.21.03
Wow a whole month
without updating my web site.. What a slacker! I've been practicing a lot
lately. I worked on a lead for a song last weekend, practiced it all week and
then recorded it today. The song is kind of different, kind of a cowboy song. I
kept imagining a steel guitar part to go under the lead. Since I don't
have a steel string guitar I found a steel guitar preset on my Korg Triton
keyboard. I wrote the part, practiced it all week and recorded it on Saturday.
After I actually heard it with the lead I realized that it does not work at all.
It is too distracting, the lead should really be the focus. So I ditched it.
Today was the first recording session that I have had in my new studio. I'm
still getting things together but it is working out well. But I am happy that
I'm back into the swing of things as far as practice and recording goes. I also
bought the VocAlign Software this weekend. It is used to tighten up harmony
tracks and doubled tracks. I should receive it soon. I got a new foot pedal
called the Doctor Q . It is a great pedal that when set up right really thickens
up my guitar sound. I don't really use the pedal the way it is intended. I just
happened to find an alternate use for it that I really like. |
11.16.03
Well I am
finally moved in enough to actually start practicing again. I had been so
swamped with moving but now things are calming down. I started running through
some scales and just trying to get back into the swing of things. I bought a
really cool desk for my mixing board and PC today. I will try to get some
pictures of the studio up pretty soon, but it looks kind of rough right now. I
went and saw the band King Diamond on Friday night. Man he is awesome! I don't
support his views on religion and almost did not go to the show because I don't
like to lend support to people with that type of agenda. It's one thing to sing
about the devil, but when you promote the devil and live that life style off
stage (or even pretend to) then that is to much for me. But I went anyway and he
was awesome. He and his band are scary talented, I really love his music. Also
check out the new question on my
Question
and Answer page. |
10.22.03
I'm in the
process of moving right now so I have only touched my guitar once in the last
two weeks. It is an insane time right now but I can see the light at the end of
the tunnel and will get back to playing soon. I will also have my own studio
again so I should be kicking out some stuff! Other than that I had to miss the
band Jag Panzer and might even have to take a pass on the G-3 tour with Vai,
Satriani, and Yngwie. |
09.29.03
Well I was able to get a
little recording done two weeks ago. Now I am just really focusing on
the three parts that are still giving me trouble. I need to play them
faster. I mapped out on a
piece of paper
the
tempo I'm at now and then increased the tempo by one or two beats per minute.
Every day I play each of the the three parts five times and bump the tempo up
each day. If all goes well I will be at speed for all of the parts in 10 to 20
days. It will pay off but it is very tedious and boring. I will also have
increased my speed which will help out a lot for the leads. So I am definitely
making progress. I've also been working on the new version of the website and
should be breaking that out soon. |
09.08.03
I'm still practicing a
lot. I tried to record one of the parts that I have been practicing last
Saturday but realized that I was not ready. So I picked out another part from
another song to practice this week and record this Saturday. I should definitely
be able to knock this part out. I am getting close on the other parts though so
I should be able to record them soon. Here are some
pics of
the new house/studio also. |
08.30.03
Well I have been
practicing my but off lately. I have been focusing on three leads that are
pretty fast and I been working up to playing them at speed by playing with a
metronome. I might be able to record one of the parts this weekend. I decided to
drop out of the Iron Maiden tribute band. I was concerned that it may take up to
much time, even losing one weekend a month is to much because my main focus is
on finishing my CD. I also bought a strat. The Maiden tribute band forced my
hand, but I had been wanting one for a long time. I got a Japanese strat, black
with white pick guard, a floyd rose, rosewood neck, sculpted heel, and a
dimarzio humbucker in the bridge. It is sweet and is actually turning into my
favorite guitar. |
08.18.03
I have been totally tied
up with things other than guitar this week. I installed an alarm system, video
system, and a Cat 5 infrastructure into my new house. I put at least 4 RJ-45 LAN
drops, and 4 RG-6 video cables into each room. It was a major pain in the butt
and one day was so hot that I thought I was going to literally die. But it's
done and now I should be able to focus some more on guitar. I also decided to
join an Iron Maiden tribute band for fun. I'll keep you posted on the details as
they arise. The songs we are working on so far are Power Slave, Run to the
Hills, The Trooper, Flight of Icarus, and Revalations. This should be a fun
project that shouldn't take up a lot of time. All of the musicians involved are
top notch and totally professional. |
08.06.03
Nothing is going on with
the recording or practice. I've been to busy picking out appliances, flooring,
and light fixtures. Woo Hoo! If you want to check out the latest pics of the new
studio/house click here. |
07.30.03
Last Saturday I recorded a
lot of lead parts for one of my songs. I have kind of been taking it easy this
week and may not get a lot of recording done this weekend. I'll try to find
something easy that I can still record. I saw Iron Maiden, Dio, and Motor Head
last night. It was a great show. It was the first time that I saw Maiden with
Bruce and he rocks! Some of the songs they played were Iron Maiden, Hallowed be
Thy Name, Trooper, Revelations, Fear of the Dark, and Two Minutes to Midnight. I
had fourth row tickets, thanks to my bud Brian for hooking me up! Also here are
some more pics of my
studio/house. |
07.20.03
I have been working on
some really fast parts but realized that I am not ready to record them yet, so I
switched modes and recorded a different part that is a lot easier. It is a
little melodic lead part. I overdubbed it four times with three different guitar
sounds. It ended up sounding pretty cool. I also rerecorded some keyboard parts
so that I could separate two of the keyboard voices and be able to mix them with
more control. Then I took some time to relearn some stuff that I had recorded to
a scratch track on one of the songs. I'm planning on practicing that this week
and then recording it this Sunday. I caught Queensryche and Dream Theatre
recently. I have to give Queensryche two thumbs up. They sounded great,
especially Jeff Tate. I don't need to say Dream Theatre was great, they always
are. Here are more pics of the new
house/studio. |
07.11.03
I got one of the hard
parts that I was stressing out about recorded today. Now that I have been
practicing a lot it doesn't seen that fast and I'm going to keep trying to get
it faster just so I can get better. I recorded it with my Brian Moore guitar
that also has built in midi. So I was able to record the guitar audio and then
at the same time record a midi track that is used to double the guitar with a
piano sound. The Roland Guitar synth I used sent the midi signal directly to
protools so I can use protools to play my Korg synth. Using the guitar syth into
protools was good to get the basic notes on the midi track but I had to clean
the midi track up afterwards. The guitar synth is so sensitive that it picks up
a lot of extra garbage notes that you have to edit out. But in the end it worked
out pretty good. Here are some pics of my temporary recording space in my
apartment and also a little trick that I use to deaden my open guitar strings
while recording
Click Here. Here are some more
picks of my house being built that will contain my real studio
Click Here. I also wanted to let everyone know about a
really cool record label that has some great artists. The label is
Century Media
Records. A great way to
hear a bunch of new bands is to buy one of there compilation CDs. The have a
whole series of compilations called Identity and they sell them (very low price)
on their web site. A couple of cool bands I heard through Identity are The
Gathering, Jag Panzer, Sentenced, and tons of others. |
07.08.03
I was out of town in
Illinois last week so I didn't get any recording done. I did take a guitar with
me and practiced some of the parts I'm going to be recording. I've been focusing
on four really fast parts that are really hard to play. One is an arpeggio
sequence that I am going to record this Saturday morning. I've been practicing
about two hours a night this week. I have started construction on my new place.
You can check out some pics of the progress
here and
here. Also I'm seeing Dream Theatre this weekend,
yeehaa! |
06.14.03
I was out of town all week
so I didn't think I would get any recording done this weekend, but I made some
good progress and got some arpeggio parts recorded for the song Joust. I picked
out a lead part to practice up on this week so I can record it next Saturday. I
wrote the lead part and I can play it comfortably at 160 bpm, only problem is I
need to do it at 200 bpm, so I will really have to practice a lot to make it
happen. Another problem is that I am going out of town again this week and
haven't made up my mind to bring a guitar or not, so I might not get to practice
this week. I have really been focusing on improving my lead skills. I have been
focusing a lot on speed lately. I also got a great seat for the Iron Maiden
concert that is coming up, that should be a blast. I heard one of the new
Metallica songs recently. I do have to say in my opinion that I'm not to
impressed. The snare sounds very "pingy", it sounds under produced, the rhythms
are basic and cliché when you can even hear them, and there are no leads. I'm
not sure what happened to Metallica. I think they are trying to be a little more
current but it seems like they could have done that and kept a more polished
produced sound. Instead the sound quality sounds cheesy to me. When load and
reload were out I thought Kirk Hammet was losing it, his leads were too simple
and pentatonic, and way to much wah wah pedal. Now he doesn't even play any
leads on the whole CD. What is up with that? Anyway, that is just my opinion.
I'll have to hear some more of it to really see what is going on. |
05.30.03
Today I answered a question
about combo amps for Neo. Check it out here
Questions and Answers. Today I organized all of the tasks I need to do to
complete the recording of my leads. I drew out a table for each song and broke
the song into sections. The three columns I have for each part are "written",
"ready", and "recorded". This table will help me identify what needs to be done
and also help me track the progress. After that I recorded the vocals for a song
called 2525. The vocals are just me talking the lyrics and then transposed 6 and
11 semitones on two different channels. I only did one take and didn't even plan
on keeping it but it sounded cool so I'm done. Other than that I have been
practicing a lot. I'm going to start recording some of the lead parts next
weekend. These are mainly the repetitive or melody types of leads that I'm going
to start recording. I still need to work on the lead solo stuff. Other than that
I did a defrag on one of my recording hard drives. |
05.23.03
I really haven't been doing
any recording lately. I have just been practicing a lot. I did start writing the
lead parts for a song called Joust. I am trying to think the parts out instead
of seeing what I come up with while improvising over the song. So I'm trying to
push myself mentally first. I will get used to playing the new parts and then
try playing them over the rhythm. Once I play it over the rhythm I'm sure it
will have to be tweaked to fit. Then I will record it and listen to it, if it's
lacking something I'll rewrite it. I listened to my old bands first
release and critiqued my playing style. I heard some things that bugged me so
I'll try not to do those things this time around. I have also been practicing a
lot to a metronome. It really helps a lot. A lot of the times I will just do a
repetitive pattern across all of the strings and move it up and down the fretboard. I'll start with a moderate speed and increase the speed gradually.
This is really getting down to total basics, but it helps a lot. It helps my
timing and my picking/fingering consistency. It's kind of like putting training
wheels on a bike that you've been riding for years, but it serves a purpose. I
also took my Ash Jackson Guitar and put a Dimarzio Evolution into the bridge
position. It sounds pretty good. I took the Evo out of my Ibanez and plan on
selling that guitar. |
05.10.03
I have just been practicing
trying to bone up for writing and playing the leads to my songs. I bought a Vinnie Moore CD called Defying Gravity. It is truly awesome! Vinnie is such a
great guitarist. I think he just became one of my favorites. He has great
phrasing, depth, and speed. Please check out his web site at
www.vinniemoore.com I also picked
up tickets to Queensryche/Dream Theatre. I am waiting to hear that Iron Maiden
is coming to the area! |
04.14.03
On Saturday I programmed
the drum parts for the song 2525. I was going to get together with Nick and
record the drums live but the song is pretty basic so I just decided to program
the drums. It won't be as cool as having a live drummer but I still think it
turned out pretty good. I tried to mix it up a little and alter the beats so
that it doesn't sound like programmed drums. On Sunday I downloaded and
tested a software tool called VocAlign. VocAlign makes overdubbing (recording
the same thing twice to thicken the sound) a breeze. Usually when recording it
is hard to get the second recording perfectly in sync with the first recording.
It can get very frustrating! VocAlign takes the work out of it. You are able to
record the first and second track, then capture them into VocAlign. Then
VocAlign processes the second track so that it is perfectly in sync with the
first track. It is a totally cool tool! I tested it on vocals and on electric
guitar rhythm/lead. It works great! I recorded two lead runs without a click
track, they were out of sync. The VocAlign put them perfectly into sync. It
achieves this by time streching and compressing the second track. It is way cool
and I am planning on buying the software.
Click here to
check out pictures of the application. |
04.09.03
Over the weekend I recorded a
clean finger picking part for the song 2525. I tried to record this
the weekend before when I thought I was prepared but I was wrong. The
song has a pretty fast tempo and there was no way I could keep up with
the finger picking pattern. So I practiced it over the last week and
knocked it out on Sunday. I also recorded a clean part for the another
song. Right now I feel like I'm not really putting enough time and
effort into the recording but I've had other priorities recently. I am
chipping away at it though! |
03.22.03
I recorded the bass line
for one of my songs today. I had a hard time taking some of the rattyness out of
the bass sound. What I finally had to do was take out some of the treble and
then move my picking hand closer to the bridge of the bass. I also really had to
focus on the angle that the pick was hitting the strings. After I did that I
recorded the bass with all of the other instruments in the mix. I listened to
what I just recorded and thought it sounded like crap. So I cut everything out
of the mix except for the kick , snare, and click track and rerecorded the bass.
This let me really focus on getting the bass really tight with the drums. It
sounded 100% better. My point is if your recording bass you should at least
listen to it with just the drums after you record it. If it sounds like crap
then try recording the bass with just the drums in the mix. Now the only problem
I have is that I might want to rerecord one of the other songs I already
recorded the bass on. I also took some time to answer a question about my guitar
sound and tone.
Check it out! |
03.21.03
About three weeks ago I had to
have surgery on my right hand. This has really set me back on getting
anything done. I could not play at all for two weeks but now I am
getting back into the swing of things. Tomorrow I will probably
spend the day working on lead parts. I am in the process of building a
house that will have a 18x12 studio in it. This will hopefully make it
easier to record compared to living in an apartment. I would like to
extend my prayers and best wishes to everyone that is affected by the
current war. I would also have to say that beyond any shadow of
doubt I need to get to work! |
02.25.03
I have worked on some
synthesizer parts for a cover song that I am recording. I also did a
rough mix of every song and burned it onto CD. I am now playing along
with this CD and starting to get ideas for the lead parts. I am
getting used to the diminished scale that uses some odd flats/sharps
for a song called Egypt. I'm trying to really expand on the diminished
scale and come up with advanced patterns and not stick to some of the
more generic things. While I was mixing down the songs I realized that
some of the acoustic stuff that I thought needed to be redone was
actually pretty good. I think me and my drummer Nick might get
together one more time to record one or two songs so I need to
schedule that session soon.
|
02.01.03
Since the last update I
have recorded all of the rhythm and bass parts for a song called Apollo. This
song was a challenge because it is pretty fast. I wrote a harmony line for
one part and recorded it also. It is really just the same pattern recorded
higher on the neck, just a perfect fifth. Other than that I didn't even pick up
a guitar this weekend. Mostly because I had other stuff going on and just a
little bit of laziness also. But one thing I feel pretty good about is the
fact that I have the rhythm , bass, and drums recorded for nine songs now. The
next thing on my list is to start working on the one cover song I'm recording
and spicing up the guitar parts. Also check out these web sites:
www.teksungirl.web.com (I have
written a few concert reviews for this great site) and
www.jcfonline.com (great site for
Jackson Guitar information). Also, I have updated the
Questions page. |
01.20.03
This weekend I recorded
a long clean intro part for the song Joust. I recorded it using a guitar that
has a built in Piezzo pickup, this pickup simulates an acoustic sound. I ran the
regular pickups into the marshall amp with two mics on the speaker, then also
recorded the piezzo pickup. So I ended up recording three tracks in one take.
I'll be able to blend the two different sounds when I mix down. Today I was all
set to record a song called Apollo. I compared the sound from a few guitars and
decided on my black Jackson. I was debating on changing my strings and finally
decided to. During the process I stripped out one of the screws on the tremolo.
I stole one off of my Ibanez and then started to record. It was then that I
realized that one of the riffs had a lot of noise due to where I was playing it
on the fret board. So I moved the whole riff up higher on the fret board. It
sounds a lot cleaner but I need to practice it more because the fingering is
different and it's a fast part. So I scrapped recording that song and wrote a
bass part for the song instead. I recently went and saw a guitar player named
Joe Stump. He is one awesome player. He sounds a lot like Yngwie. It was nice to
see a musician that strives to be the best he can. I've also been working a lot
on revising the web site. I will probably hold off on publishing the changes and
do it all at once, I might even wait until the CD is released, but that could be
the year 2008, LOL. Also my drummer Nick has been sick with an inner ear
infection. Get better soon Nick!! I have had to hold off on recording the drum
tracks for the last two songs. I'm thinking about just blowing them off. I'll
have to wait and see how Nick's recovery goes. |
01.05.03
I recorded the
rhythm guitar for a Latin sounding song and also the bass for a song called
joust this weekend. I also have been practicing a lot with a metronome so I can
record a song called Apollo this coming weekend. After the time that I took off
for school I have found that I have lost some of my speed. It will take a little
bit of practice to get back to where I was before. I also started working on my
finger picking again. I am recording the bass tracks with the bass plugged
straight into the mixing board. The bass I'm using has a built in parametric EQ
so I can dial in cool sounds straight from the bass without using an amp. I also
have been spending a lot of time on putting some java graphics and new fonts
together for the website. I am in the process of revamping the whole site but it
will be a while before I publish any of the changes. Happy New Year! |
12.15.02
I've been plugging
away at recording rhythm tracks. I recorded Joust last Friday. I started to
record a song called Apollo on Saturday but realized that I wasn't quite ready
to record it. A couple of months ago I had to put practicing on the back burner
because I had a lot going on. Now that stuff is behind me and I am getting back
into the swing of practicing a lot. Instead of recording on Saturday I put a
different pickup in my blue Charvel. It is a George Lynch Screaming Demon. I put
it in the neck position. I had this same pickup in a different guitar and did
not like it. Now that I have it in the Charvel I am totally loving it. So I
ended up jamming for about three hours. I also had to postpone recording the
drums for the last song with Nick. He has had an inner ear infection but is
getting better. We will probably try to get back in the studio in early January.
Have a great Christmas! |
11.29.02
Last Friday me and
Nick recorded again at Orion Studios. The Drums are coming out great. We are
getting together again on December 6th and then hopefully the drums will be
done. I also updated the
pictures of my guitars
on the web site and added some more pictures to the
photo gallery today. It has been a hectic
last month for me, I really overbooked myself and I had to put off some of the
recording. But things are starting to slow down now. I did manage to get out and
see the band Blind Guardian. They were pretty cool. I'm planning on seeing Joe
Stump in Baltimore in January. I can't wait for that. Happy Thanksgiving! |
11.10.02
On Friday me and Nick
got together and recorded the drum tracks for a song called Joust. We are
scheduled to record again in two weeks. We have 3 more songs to record the drums
for. This Friday I will probably record the rhythm guitar tracks for Joust. I
saw my buds in Innerface on Saturday
night. They were rocking as usual. It was great to see those guys and you should
try to check them out if you are in the area. I noticed I'm getting a lot of
hits on my sight form people in other countries. Thanks for checking out the
site. If you can please sign the guest book. I would love to hear from you
and let me know where you are from. I am going to try to go see
Symphony X
this month. They rock. |
10.27.02
I've been recording the rhythm
track for one song each weekend. I have been picking one song to
record each week and then practicing that song every night with a
metronome. While I'm practicing the song I check to make sure that I
am playing it in the most efficient way i.e. no weird finger
stretches. If I find something like that I will correct it and then
get used to playing it the new way. I also check to make sure to
minimize scraping the strings when changing positions on the fret
board. I will also usually slow the tempo down to make sure I'm
executing everything cleanly. Then I usually record
something during the day Saturday. I would try to do a couple of songs
each week but right now it is not really possible due to lack of time.
I also have studio time booked on Nov 8th for me and Nick to record
drum tracks. |
10.10.02
Last Sunday I recorded
the rhythm track for one of my songs. I practiced the song a lot through
the week and on Friday and Saturday. I've definitely found that if you can't
knock something out in one or two takes then you are probably not ready to
record and should put in some more practice. I also mixed and listened to the
drums that me and Nick recorded during the last session. Nick did a great job on
one of the songs. We tried to record a second song that day and 95% of the
song is great, but on one part of the song Nick was a little bit ahead of the
click. I don't blame Nick for this at all. He was not feeling well and after
recording the first song, which was great we stressed out on one part of the
second song and I think I burnt him out. So it looks like we will end up
recording that song again. Really I'm happy if we just get one song done per
session so I'm not bothered by this at all. On Wednesday I started getting a
song ready so I could record this weekend and I discovered that in my quest to
regain disk space I had deleted all of the keyboard parts for the song. I was
kind of freaking. Luckily I had backed up the data to CD a long time ago.
I had to import the tracks and convert them from the cubase format to the
protools format. Then I had to cut and paste the parts into the right
locations in the song. But it all worked out great and I was able to recover all
the keyboard parts. Thanks god for backups! Other than that I am just
plugging away and getting the rhythm tracks recorded. |
| < |
