Pluck a week 3

This one is a bit long. Apologies.
I use the Boss-20XL Loop Station again, but I don't have a title like last time.
There are four parts, so it drags on.
Around 1:40 it all comes together though, kind of.
If you're a pal, you'll play the whole thing.
If not, go fuck yourself.
Just kidding.

 

Also, to Apple:
You took away video effects in iMovie so now I have to use Quicktime filters? They are awful.
Did everyone see how bad that was?
I recorded this with a great camera, the Olympus Tough TG-1.
The audio and video are much better than my iDevices. It saves a .MOV file.
I can import that into iMovie...fine, but I can do nothing to improve the visual appeal (much needed since the camera placement is only for audio).
Alright, so I'll try one of Quicktime's filters..."Old Film" - "Hair" effect:
I see my video's colors degraded and an occasional white vertical line slide around...cool?
It took 50 minutes to encode, so...awesome.
That's what you (imaginary) people (who actually take interest in my guitar plucking) get.
Peace & Love.
Unless you're into war & hate. Then go fuck yourself.
Really.


All parts are recorded with a Gibson ES339 through a Vox AC15C1.
The first part uses an EHX Pog 2 and Boss CH-1 at the bridge setting.
The second uses just the Boss CH-1 at the middle setting.
The third uses the Boss CH-1, Fulltone OCD, and Catalinbread Semaphore at the neck setting.
The fourth uses all of the pedals in the third, plus the EHX MicroSynth at the neck setting.

pluck a week 2

Well, okay, a fortnight in this case. But we've been busy over here.
If you're stumbling over from lamebook, endure some redundancy...
I call this plucked piece: "A Distinct Lack of Ultraviolet Rays in Soid's Absence"
It's loosely (as in, entirely) based on Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine".

 

I get some help from the Boss RC-20XL Loop Station in case you had the raised brow, thinking, "The last time I saw slobscot, he had only two hands...and one of them was holding a burrito..."
Yeah, I only played one part at a time. The pedal lets me tap my foot to begin recording a phrase, play it, tap my foot again to start looping the recorded phrase, and repeat for additional parts.
Hellz yeahz bitches!

pluck a week

New amp (Vox AC15C1) and guitar (Gibson ES339).
The DeVille and (one of) the LP is now in the Groveland music room.

*La Muñeca loves it when I buy new music gear.



I'm trying to record something every week, just to force myself to play and be accountable for playing something new (even if only to you). So, much will be improvised, single takes, and inclusive of mistakes (see 0:40 in video). We might try some different mics up in here too instead of the iDevice built-in mics. Get excited.

*That could be sarcasm or not...she doesn't mind. She knows I love it and she loves it when I'm happy. The issue is space since the "studio" is also the bedroom. In this instance I dropped from a 4x10" amp to a 1x12" amp, but I did pick up an amp stand, taking up a bit more real estate. One added guitar, and one moved guitar, so I guess it's a wash space-wise this time around...

Staying Fit, and Other Good

You know what stinks about apartment gyms?

This guy:

No really, he stinks. Like awful.

The good thing is that maybe it helps me to forgo the elliptical and venture a run around the "neighborhood".

In addition, Google did a good thing today with their "doodle" (HTML widget in the Google logo of their home page above the search field):

This screen capture does no justice to the widget (which can be played).
Bob Moog's birthday is today. He's up there with my favorite humans.
He died of a brain tumor the year I graduated from the ICAM department at UCSD. To most of us around Mandeville, it felt like we lost a friend.

Check out the Bob Moog Foundation.

If you have an iPad, you owe it to yourself to try the "Animoog" soft synth. Musical inclination not required to have fun and enjoy the app.
Also, check out "Moog", a documentary of Robert Moog and moog synthesizers (streaming on Netflix).
Lastly, it's "moog" -- like "rogue" -- not like "goog"le.

"I'll tell you where I think it comes from. I think it comes from out there, you know, and it comes through me, into the instrument and then the music goes through you guys and the instrument, and then back out there."

Darth Vader-Fish

Remember, 720p.


New life: Bengali Cardinal.
I liked 'Ben' but, having just seen the first three episodes of Star Wars (as in, ever), la muñeca likes 'Darth Vader' because it has black. She also claims to hear the storm trooper theme when she sees it...but I don't think it's that evil.
Maybe we can compromise on 'Darth Bender'?
Probably not. She tends to get her way.

I love quilts.

No really, I do.

I also love Sunday afternoon guitar sessions.
And this moogerfooger.

What the flux?

It's been awhile.

Here's an awesome thing explained by someone passionate about it:


It's weird how little I deal with buckets and how often I deal with buckets...
The moog cluster flux should be arriving on my doorstep this week. Fuck yeah.

Google, you run YouTube right? Forget about the Blogger (which you also run) post interface and retain the 'Play in HD' option when embedding a video...
Douche bags.