I intended to write about the tree-lighting ceremony last night, which really is its own thing in a small town (700 people). We knew everyone in the parking lot (about 30 people) and one of the funnier moments was when someone said, "Richard, plug the tree in." Then Richard plugged the tree in. But I'm not writing about that as I've spent too much time writing the numbers below.
Notice point # 6 below, which will in turn explain the numbered section of this post (which appears nearly verbatim on what has become blog #2)
Yes, as you will notice in point #1 the weather continues its onslaught. The above photos from the past week. (note: originally, there were some photos of the snow above, but after posting the drawing on The Sunday Sessions site, I decided that it was a much more compelling image. Therefore, I post here (above) the companion image if you will, an actual photo of my pedalboard. See Sunday Sessions site for other image)
#7 does not apply here, only on The Sunday Sessions. I know this is all likely a bit confusing, and is perhaps intentional. Perhaps.
The title of the post (this one, not the one on The Sunday Sessions) refers to both #'s 5 and 9. I do not yet know what I will title the other.
Regarding #1 in particular, it will really only make sense if you go to The Sunday Sessions. That said, it would really make just as much sense to go there now, as the rest of the post is identical. Or read it here. Whatever.
1. Snow. I felt that as it is still snowing, I should somehow record something that had something to do with snow. We have only had one day of sun this month (I know it sounds impossible) so I felt I should express that. I know this is oblique, but one can try. My first few passes were decidedly chaotic, frenzied, Derek Bailey (sort of) meets Merzbow (sort of) collisions. Partly inspired also by the fact that I watched some youtube videos of the British punk band Crass this morning, as they were one of my favorites at the age of sixteen. I suppose these things find a way in. But then I did something else.
2. I spent some time this week listening to both Jeff Parker (most notably from the band Tortoise) and Nels Cline, an activity which at times made me feel great, and inspired, and excited to be playing guitar. At other times of course, this exercise made me feel like putting mine away forever. My god those guys can play. A great place to hear them both together is on Scott Amendola's record titled Believe, which incidentally is just magnificent.
3. Hint: When I first heard Sigur Ros I found the bowed electric guitar to be one of the greatest sounds I had ever heard. I still cannot verbalize why, and I still feel the exact same way about it. It moves something deep in me. Sometime, I will tell you all the story of the first time I saw Sigur Ros play at The Warfield Theatre in San Francisco, and had what I would define as a deeply spiritual experience. I know that may sound lame, but trust me; it was otherworldly. The first time I heard them recorded, I was driving the California Central Valley roads, sometime after midnight in a late sumer storm. Windows down, rain hitting my arm as I bumped into the eye in the old blue toyota pickup, the music periodically interrupted by explosions.
4. Keri and I listenened to Morton Feldman's Rothko Chapel numerous times last week, which may be the most beautiful thing I have ever heard in my life.
5. Jazz confuses me.
6. How is it that I have come to have two blogs, when I'm not even sure If I want one?
7. Above is a photo of my current pedalboard and a drawing I did of my signal chain. The pitchshifting at the end of this one is a delay pedal. I know, I broke the rules, but you know what they say about rules.
8. I'm not sure what to say about this one. I wanted to just bow some simple note changes, but then I felt compelled to play with my hands. Sometimes, I want to play with my hands so much more than using a plectrum (pick). Sometimes, it feel like the pick puts an ocean of distance between me and the guitar.
9. In reading about Jeff Parker I came across this from an interview:
"How do approach the guitar when you practice?
When I look at the neck of the guitar, I see points, and the points form shapes—like constellations. I can look at the guitar neck and see keys and arpeggios, but when I look at the big picture and consider the sound, it’s about the shapes the groups of notes make. The tension is at the peak. If two diagonal lines intersect, the point where they meet is the tension, and the resolution is where they retreat.
How does that lead to something you can use in a composition?
My doctrine is to find an idea, develop it, and expand on it. But there has to be something of relevance attached for the idea to make sense. I’ve also had this infatuation with repetition and stagnation the past couple of years. If you change the accents over time, certain polyrhythms are implied. Sometimes you can keep one thing the same, but change everything around it."
What? What the hell is he talking about? I wish I could say that makes sense to me, but it just doesn't. Philosophically, and theoretically it makes sense, but not practically.
I suppose it doesn't help that I'm not fond of this weeks improvisation. I noticed that they all start more or less the same, which I see as a problem. Safe. I must change that for next week. I also feel as though generally speaking I am being too cautious. How does one change that gracefully?
Before my son was born I decided that I would sell a guitar (or two) and have one custom made. After several months of looking for the right builder, I found a gentlemen named Creston Lea in Burlington, Vermont. One long evening spent looking at the instruments on his site, listening to various players play them, reading, reading, reading, and a Creston Electric was in the cards. Over the last few years I have learned quite a bit about the seemingly endless number of things that make guitars sound the way that they do, and I felt that I had finally come to some conclusions about what I wanted, and didn't want in an instrument. Of course Creston and I wrote back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back...(you get the idea) before making final decisions. Let us just say that I had some requests that were not so easy to implement.
I would genuinely like to write and write and write about these numerous details, but I fear that you, dear reader, would for the most part be bored. I could tell of the different sounds that different woods make, what scale length means regarding tonality, and a thing or two about electro-magnetics and how it relates to pickups, coil, etc., etc., etc. Believe me, my poor wife heard it all. So I will spare you. I will say though that Creston made me something of a masterpiece. A strange gift that man has, which came as no surprise. I figured by the list of players he is building for, and the number of them who return for a second instrument, that I must have been in good hands. Really, no pun intended. I could of course relay to you the detailed mastery of his work, but again, I will spare you.
Perhaps the most surprising thing about all of this, is that he somehow created exactly the guitar I had in mind. The degree of accuracy is rather baffling to be honest. True, some of this was my doing with regards to wood choice, color choice, knob choice, pickguard material, etc., but to be honest he was the captain of the ship, me a lone watcher in a crow's nest, occasionally hollering down ideas. (More Images of my guitar here)
At some point during the process I drove out to Burlington to meet with him and discuss some particulars, feel some necks (guitar necks), and get acquainted. Though wouldn't it be funny if instead there as some ancient custom that guitar builders and their customers had to size up each other's necks? Anyway, we spent some time in his shop, then went out to lunch and walked the town a bit. The whole of the experience gave me hope for this crazy world. Aside from making great instruments, he is a good man and one that I would even dare to call a friend. (Not to mention he has good taste in literature, and we've talked babies a bit).
So any of you guitar (or bass) playing readers of mine, really should buy one. I mean that. Don't think about it, don't look around or check him out first, just buy one. Trust me. I am not kidding.
On that note (guitars) I post yesterday's improvisation. I'm not quite sure what to say about it, (am I ever?) but I can say this: I seem to have recorded a nearly perfect piece of music for the new iTunes visualizer. (This may be a bad thing) I downloaded the new iTunes sometime in the last week or so, and last night as I listened to the track (in an otherwise dark room) I turned on the visualizer. Much to my surprise, things were quite different; and dazzling if not a bit repetitive. Not necessarily better than the old visualizer, just different. I tried numerous other pieces of music, and I must say that none struck me quite like my own. (Regarding its effect on the visualizer and vice versa).
I then thought, "wouldn't it be interesting if I started composing music specifically for the visualizer, trying for the perfect relationship?" Then I thought, "maybe not. Maybe that would be really lame. REALLY LAME. A 2008 version of the laser show. Ugh."
You should know the trick by now. Go to the "Other Work" page of my site, click on Sunday Sessions.....
1. Yes, it is snowing here in Canada. The above photo was taken this morning, looking out our bedroom window.
2. I am currently reading “The Fixer,” by Bernard Malamud. A brilliant, though dark and heavy read, I can hardly put it down.
3. I am terribly disappointed that proposition 8 passed in my home state of California. What the hell is wrong with people?
4. I have uploaded the Sunday Sessions recording. Again, go to the “Other Work” page of my site, click on “Sunday Sessions,” and scroll down. I am hoping to re-format the page so that the recordings are in a sidebar, though all in due time. It would also be good I think, for me to write a bit about each one.
I’m not sure that I should be writing about anything other than Obama at the moment. Last night, Keri, Tilden and I lay in bed listening to NPR and nervously watching the map. The first surge of excitement came when Pennsylvania went blue. When Robert Siegel announced Ohio, we cried. As we have likely all heard enough of this, I will leave the pontificating to other bloggers and journalists. Suffice it to say, I think for the first time in my adult life, I feel a palpable sense of hope that perhaps the world will begin to move in a more promising direction. I could carry on and on, but I will not. Instead, I send you a few links for more news about Of Great and Mortal Men (still timely I say):
(In this article, many of the contributors on the project were asked to tell what we would do were we elected president. While you can certainly go read responses from a whole slew of folks, I will put my answers at the bottom of this post, in some way to honor Obama.)
WNYC Interview
On another note, i share a link to a new page of my website where I will be embarking on an experiment. (In the future, you can access this page by going to the "other work" section of my site) In some ways this new experiment is quite apt, as it has much to do with being in the moment. That sounded lame. Being in the moment.
I should write that this may historically be viewed as one of the the best days in American History in decades. Perhaps I am overly optimistic about the inherent possibility of Obama’s next four years, but my god does it feel good. My son grows agitated in his not so happy “happy chair,” and my attention for the moment shifts. Amazing how quickly life can pull you back into its arms.
1. Media democracy: I would restructure our media, severely limiting the number of media outlets any one corporation can own and operate, and I would instill ways to reward media who report truthful and important matters.
2. Corporations and political funding: I would remove all corporate funding from politics, and overturn the law that exempts corporations from accountability for their actions. I would severely cut advertising and put in place strict laws limiting billboards, print ads, places where ads may be displayed, etc.
3. Farming: I would strongly subsidize small farmers.
4. Health care: I would severely cut our defense budget spending and put that money into a socialized universal health care system.
5. Education: I would put a great deal more funding into public education, cut standardized testing, put more money into the arts in schools, pay teachers considerably more than what they are currently paid, and revise outdated curriculum.
6. Environment: I would drastically alter the laws for automobile manufacturers regarding gas mileage on vehicles. I would develop a much more efficient public transportation system. I would offer rewards and subsidies in large sum that help offset and reduce our environmental footprint.
7. Peace: I would pull all troops from Iraq, and begin establishing peace in the Middle East by pulling Israel out of Palestine and giving Palestinians back their land in some form of compromise.
8. Internet democracy: I would work to make sure that the Internet remains a free and democratic space, keeping corporations out.
(of course this was written some time ago now so somewhat outdated with the financial crisis at hand...I also wanted to be somewhat brief, as I likely could have had 50 points.)
