That’s my amplifier, just before I packed it up after the show last night. See all those little white flecks? I thought maybe we were rocking so hard the ceiling was coming down a spec at a time. My drummer corrected me. It’s sawdust from his drumsticks.
Awesome.
Considering that these are the fuzz and overdrive pedals that are not on the pedal board I will bring to the gig tomorrow, and that the gig board has three fuzz pedals and two overdrive pedals…
I think I might have a dirt pedal problem.
Hello my name is Robert and I’m a distortion-aholic.
Oh and while we’re on the topic, let’s enjoy the warm glowing warming glow of some vacuum tubes…
You know a gig is imminent when Rob gets a ton of new strings.
Say hello to the most adorable little overdrive pedal ever.
It’s so tiny and cute!
Today is a big day for RPM Challenge participants. Portsmouth, New Hampshire’s community radio station, WSCA, 106.1 FM has declared today as the RPM Global Listening Day. They are going to play one song from each of the 500 or so albums submitted this year. They are literally playing music from all across the planet. You can listen to their audio stream at this link right here.
Check it out. There will be some great music, some not so great music, some music that lives somewhere in between, but all of it was made by people who felt the need to put the rest of the world on hold for a few weeks and let their own creativity shine for a while. I applaud everyone who finished, and everyone who gave it a shot but didn’t finish, and everyone who thought about starting but never did (because next year they will own this thing).
Everyone, that is, except me. My project was crap this year. If you listen to the stream and you hear this song… then you know it’s me.
They called Elvis Presley the King of Rock and Roll, but I think everyone always knew that was bullshit. Yes, Elvis was amazing and yes he did more to spread Rock and Roll to the masses than anyone. He is deserving of all the praise he’s received.
But let’s be honest. Chuck Berry is the King of Rock and Roll. When you line up all the greats who were there at the start, and there are a lot of them, Chuck Berry stands out the most. He wrote tremendous riffs. His lyrics were poetry at a time when most of his contemporaries were writing nonesense. Most important to me, a guitar player, Chuck Berry was Rock and Roll’s first true instrumental hero. Even with all the things that have come since, his playing still stands out. He is a legitimate guitar hero. Don’t believe me? Go ask Keith Richards his opinion. Go ask Eric Clapton. If we still had them with us I’d say go ask George Harrison or Jimi Hendrix. Chuck’s playing stands the test of time.
Chuck Berry died today at the age of 90. Yes, 90 years is a pretty good run, but I was hoping we’d get to keep him around for another 40-50 years at least.
Rest in Peace, Chuck Berry.
Where did I leave off? I don’t remember.
Here’s the status… Seven riffs or groups of riffs still in the idea stage. One of them has the rhythm guitars already recorded. It will take some big time copy and paste to bring it into a song, but it’s a start. One more song sketched out and ready to record rhythm guitars. Two more have guitars already and are ready for vocals.
So effectively, three and a half songs that are more than just ideas.
The really cool thing is that the amp I bought last week has a line out that includes a digital speaker simulation. That means you can use the tube amp, bypass the speaker, and record without annoying the hell out of the family on a Sunday afternoon. Much to my surprise, it actually sounds good! I never thought I’d live to see an amp with a line out that actually still sounds like the amp. I am pleased.
Last night I put together a file on my iPad that has three eight bar phrases. That’s it. Not really a song form yet, but a start.
Today I did something totally different, for me at least. I bought a new amp and as I was putting it through it’s paces I had the iOS Music Memos app open. I put down four little licks or phrases. Most are sort of similar, but they all count as the start of an RPM song idea. There was also that video that I posted earlier today. That has another riff that seems useable.
That’s eight ideas so far. Only two are ready to start actually recording, and some of the music memos might be combined together into one song, but who cares. The ball is rolling. The ideas are coming. The game is on, brothers and sisters!
Picked up my new stay-at-home amplifier today. A Fender Bassbreaker 15. First impression? Yes, Mr Amplifier, may I have some more?
Here is a quick video of me noodling around each of the three gain stages. Honestly, I will probably keep it clean (although it doesn’t get all that clean) and use pedals for the dirt and fuzz, but I sure like what the dirtier settings have to offer.
(also, one of these little noodles is probably going to show up in my RPM music at some point. It is February after all)
