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Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
welcome to my corner of the web where i am happy to share my memories, interests & ideas, music and everyday thoughts about whatever comes into my life... While you're at this website All music, concepts, ideas & "dextrosoundlab" images (C)dextrosoundlab2010/socan/ALL RIGHTS RESERVED


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Tuesday, November 16, 2010

FUZZ



i don't know what it is about the FUZZ effect that i can't get enough of, personally i own around 20 different FX boxes, mostly overdrives, distortions and pure FUZZ.
-electroharmonix big muff pi(russian '90s model)
-electroharmonix double muff
-mxr blue box (octave/fuzz/distortion)
-danelectro FrenchToast(octave fuzz)
-danelectro Peach Fuzz

i generally use overdrives and distortion pedals along with FUZZ's like:
-danelectro 'ocd' DRiVE
-danelectro metal
-boss sd-1 super OD
-boss ds-1 distortion

And like most tone freaks i also chain some wah into the mix;
-dunlop gcb95 crybaby wah
-electroharmonix Q-tron envelope filter
-EH stereo polyphase (LFO & envelope controlled phaser)
-digitech wah modeller
-Boss VF-1 (24 bit digital multi-FX_)

some people swear that you need to place your wah before the fuzz, but i have found that placing the wah after the fuzz is how i roll.

todays blog is just a time waster for me, a personally inventory of sorts i guess, either way, i can go on and on about the FUZZ, and it opens up a floodgate of ideas, "how to maximize the fuzz"
enough is enough,
ttyl

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Pedal Effects and then some.....

FX are the reason that i pick up and plug in my electric guitar on a daily basis....and i appreciate both analogue and digital Effects processing...
Personally I own and use:
-Boss VF-1 :24 bit digital Studio multi-FX processor
-Boss RC-20 LoopStation
-Boss DS-1 distortion
-ElectroHarmonix: Q-tron Envelope controlled Filter, Stereo PolyPhase, Big Muff-Pi(russian version)
-Digitech Rp-50 digital modelling processor
-MXR BlueBox (octave Fuzz)
-Danelectro CoolCat's : FUZZ, DRiVE & Metal
-Dunlop CryBaby Wah
-behringer EX-3100 Stereo Sound Enhancer/exciter
-DBX 163x compressor/limiter
-DBX 463x noise gate
-ART TubeMP(tube preAmp box)
-ART tube compressor & preAmp

....now you may think; this guy has all he should ever need to satisfy his urge to find the perfect tone?
Ah, no, this is just the begining, well, not exactly, i have been messing with this stuff for a long time, this is just the collection that i have not sold for one reason or another....this is my collection after i decided to not sell my things when i need money to survive.
It is also the result of having a steady job....my six year anniversary of employment was this past august, and my collection of gear really shows it!
i also employ sound synthesis into my world of FX....for that i use a Roland MC-909 synth/sampler & a Roland MKS-7 SuperQuartet(analogue rackmount synth'85), i plan to buy a midi guitar synth converter box so i can play the synth gear with my guitar strings.
very soon this will be a reality.
There is a Roland GK midi box for sale at a local pawn shop for $150, perhaps this fridays paycheque will enable that purchase.
In the meantime, i will try and concentrate on the pedal FX, and rackmount multiFX.
I plan to upload photo's and sound bytes to make my experiments with these pedals helpful to other aspiring pedal heads.
until next time....
see ya!

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

no more holidays

....there is no graphic image to represent how the idea of 'no more holidays' makes me feel right now.
i would really like to take a year off work, a year to let the murky water that is my brain, settle, and maybe i could see clearly for at least a moment, and redirect my energy, so at least i could feel something other than 'blah' about my life.
i really don't understand what other people do that is so different than me.
i don't abuse my body with drugs and alcohol, i don't eat bad food....i exercise...but still i can count on one hand the number of times i have actually felt happy, and/or content about myself....
....Before i moved out of the building at 12 king street in waterloo, i could escape with the help of my music machines.....but now in the one bedroom apartment, i have to compromise and only set up some of the machines at one time, and even still, when things are set up and powered up, i don't have enough room to actually leave things like that....so it's a constant pain in my ass....i spend more time setting things up and tearing them down, then actually capturing musical ideas....

THEN, by the time i am in a groove and i lose myself in what i am doing, i look up and it's after 6pm, and i have to think about sleep...because my shit job has me waking up at 2:30AM, and i am at work and punched in by 3:30am.
FML.....
I have been learning the text message shortforms, and FML is my favorite.....if i could get a customized license plate for my bicycle i would like to have 'FML X23'
and that's all i have to say today.

Monday, July 12, 2010



my last week of holiday time from my 'day job' are over, and i must say that last week was the greatest weather so far this summer, despite the humidity....although my dad and i went north a few hours and found the air much less humid, and overall, once in cottage country every aspect of daily life changes.
But now i am back, or 'home'....which means i just worked from 4am - 9am, but that means i woke up at 2:30am, which is always the pits.....and now i am sitting, slightly damp from the light rain outside, drinking a hot coffee, and trying patiently to leech off the 'free' internet at this cafe, long enough to download an episode of an american tv show called 'burn notice', so i can treat myself to at least 45 minutes of new video later today.

Back to work, was to my dismay, worse than i expected....and i harbor rather low expectations when it comes to my workplace.
up until now, i have been content with my work area....but i have taken a holiday, and sure enough, i get back no more than one week later, only to find management has taken a giant step backwards.
what else is new?
FML seems appropriate.

Friday, July 2, 2010

here iam now

I am no longer on the brink of a life change, the change has occured, and i am moving in that new direction.
I handed in my keys last wednesday and so the era of life in uptown waterloo is over officially.
Now i am without internet at home, except for the little phone i bought which has internet browsing, ideal for keeping up to date with email and other social network stuff.
Presently i am sitting in a cafe in waterloo, for the first time i utilized the wifi connectability of my new netbook and proceeded to download a documentary film at blazing speeds up to 750kps !!!

So now i know that i can take advantage of the free wifi in some parts of the cities i live in and near, and even download films.....all for the price of a coffee!!!

And so i become a transient web crawler, and for now i can live with that.

i am very glad i made the decision to buy this netbook, without it, i would be out of luck.

now i just need to find the right cafe that won't mind me moving in for a couple hours at a time while i maintain my music web sites and download movies.
lol....
UPDATE:
Following some web research on wi-fi hotspots around town i now have a list of businesses and public places that have a legal wireless internet connection available.....the verdict isn't in yet though, i don't think i will adapt quickly to life without high speed internet in my apartment....the luxury of movie hunting and quick downloads at home cannot be take for granted....now i am sitting in an uptown waterloo cafe typing blog stuff and downloading the new release "the runaways", a cool looking movie about joan jett and her friends band in the 1970's....i sometimes like movies like this that are about music and based on real people.
i just don't know how i am going to sit here and stay amused for "42minutes" or more while i try and leach this movie via this cafe's wi-fi connection.
I don't even know if these businesses appreciate people downloading 700mb video files....perhaps i am hogging bandwidth....we'll see....there is only one other fellow using the network at this time.
i just wish the darn thing would accelerate any time now, like at the hotel cafe the other day, a movie downloaded via video.google.com at speeds over 730kb/s !!!!!!!!
it only took me 10 minutes to relax while the flick transfered to my computer.

my home studio is looking up, yesterday i set up my Roland mc-909 and my Roland cdx-1 disc-lab, and i re-organized the electric guitar effects & amplifier set-up, so now i can program midi sequences & drum patterns, utilize the sp-808 sampler as well as the newer mc-909 sampler for some really slick backing rhythm tracks to play and layer guitar on top of.
fun wow.

*36minutes remain in my download @the uptown waterloo cafe...if it wasn't a busy place i bet i would be happier to sit here....like the other one at the Huether hotel, where i could sit in a corner of a back room and use the internet from there.
perhaps i should have gone there today....but this place is beside the grocery store....speaking of which....i also have two bags of groceries, one has 4 frozen chicken fried rice side dishes, and one large yogurt....i hope that they don't completely thaw, if so, then it could cost me $5 to sit here and download movies after all....oh, and the two coffee's i will have drank by the time i am finished.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010



The electronic music studio has been apart of my dreams and realities since 1995 when i first met a person who became my greatest musical influence.
We were both on welfare, and living in rented rooms in rooming houses near downtown Victoria, in British Columbia....life was good, but we went three years and could not afford to even buy new patch cords....so we made use of the synthesizers and basic gear that my friend had....it wasn't until I moved away to Saint John New Brunswick when i actually bought myself my first gear that was all mine!

Here iam around 15 years later, and i have presently moved all my studio toys to a new one bedroom apartment, and all i have had the energy to unpack was my electric guitar and a half dozen effect pedals.

I don't know if i am going to be able to set up my studio the way i have had it set up for the past decade, with a dedicated room for only music....now i will have to regress back to the days where i had a studio set up in my bedroom.

I will still aspire to one day have the space to have my studio set up some what permanently, but until then, this will have to do.

I love photo's of the electronic studio's from bygone era's like the one pictured above, which is outfitted with 'EMS' synth's....it is probably a British location, since those synth's were marketed mainly in the United Kingdom.

I like to think that I am carrying on the tradition of the outsider hidden away with magical electronic equipment experimenting with the science and physics of sound engineering....and for now, i will be content with my lack of space, and somehow relearn how to share my bedroom with my studio.

Saturday, May 15, 2010



I bought one of these Roland D2 'grooveboxes" back in 2002....it was really exciting and i have used it ever since as a sequencer, and drum machine....the realtime control of the 'D-field' controller was what hooked me in the store where i bought it. was able to instantly apply manipulations to the pattern, things like playing the pattern in reverse, or emulating turntable tricks are simply addicting.
Combining a synthesizer like this with a guitar and effects can transform someone into a solid 'one-man-band' in no time. Well, truthfully, it did take sometime to perfect my performance...without lots of practice programming midi patterns, and editing tones any device like this would not show it's true potential.
There are pre-set patterns, but it is truly made for programming original patterns, in realtime, and rolands 'step' programming methods...in the 'step' method you can do some precise editing with the midi sequence...I personally prefer the realtime method, and on a 'instant gratification' scale, it rates a "10".

Here is the description of the Roland D2 which i copy&pasted from 'vintage synth explorer':
Roland's D2 Groovebox is a compact, performance-oriented Groovebox (sequencer/sound module)--sort of a smaller MC-505--designed entirely around Roland's D-Field Controller technology. This touch-sensitive pad makes it easy to program and modify patterns, sounds, effects and more simply by touching the surface. It has all of the 505's sounds and a similar sequencer with 150 all-new patterns including the latest 2-Step and R&B styles.

The D-Field controller at the heart of the D2 (also featured on the V-Synth) offers three distinct modes: SOUND makes playing patterns and sound effects easy by touching the D-Field; XY provides simultaneous control over two parameters (e.g. filter cutoff + resonance); SPIN creates turntable-style effects by tracing the pad in a circular motion.

The D2 has more than enough sounds inside, with 600 Preset patches and 30 Preset drum kits from the MC-505. These dance-oriented sounds include ultra-fat bass and lead synths, screaming TB-303's, dance piano and strings, plus 30 floor-pounding drum kits. Phrase/Groove loops are also plentiful with 150 patterns plus 240 RPS (Realtime Phrase Sequence) patterns. There is a new Step Recording method using the D-Field and 32 LEDs as well. Separate Reverb, Delay and Multi-FX sections with Groove-oriented algorithms add space and effects to your sounds & grooves. And with the D2's Megamix function, it's easy to remix patterns into your own creations using the D-Field or Value dial.

Today i also have the Roland MC-909, which is a monster of a 'box', combining sampling, synthesizer & 16 track midi sequencer with a boatload of studio grade multi-FX....I also use the Roland MKS-7 Super Quartet, an Analogue Midi Synth Module circa.1985, and the three of my Roland's are perfect for whatever sonic experiment i attempt.

Monday, May 3, 2010



This is a fairly good representation of how cluttered my brain feels as I am on the verge of dismembering and transporting my music & sound studio and my other belongings to my new apartment.
I am not even going to get into the fact that i don't have a car, or even a drivers permit, so i am reliant upon a friend, and my Father, to assist me in the actual move(s).
In the meantime I must dig deep into myself and somehow motivate me to ignore my aching back, and sore knee, and continue organizing and sorting through the 9 years worth of stuff that i have somehow collected.
I am also wary of packing my studio gear that is fragile....in case it gets damaged in some way...i want to unpack at the new place and just happily plug stuff in to find it's working.
There is alot of useless stuff....and furniture. Some of it i should bring with me.....but i really want to get back to my minimal self....back in 1994 I could stuff my belongings into a normal sized car....and move in one trip.
But now, because I let myself get comfy over the years, i have collected far too much 'stuff'.
I will sort it out. There is already a sizable pile of 'useless' stuff...but only useless right now, sometime it could come in handy! Like the analogue video camera, that needs repair!!! This is one example of how i might talk myself into keeping stuff.
I will try to part with the 'half functioning' stuff.
And only keep my things that are useful and in working order.
This is kind of a waste of blog space, but i have been stressed over this and other topics as of late...and i think that by typing it out, i might be able to sort it out as well.
Until next time...
later.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

my new netbook...




i broke down and treated myself to a new computer.....since i am about to move into a smaller apartment, i decided i wanted to ensure that i had a portable wifi netbook, or cheap laptop to keep me up to date with technology....and after some internet research and at least an hour at Canada Computers in waterloo, i settled on a brand new Acer-aspireOne netbook....this sucker has an 11.6inch high definition screen and a large hard drive(160GB) no cd rom, but 3 usb ports for connecting external devices like a cd burner....for now i only have a mouse and my behringer uca-202 audio interface connected....plus there is an extra monitor connection, however i have not connected my giant CRT monitor, i will wait and perhaps i will buy a flat screen monitor....for now this is perfect.
i dont like the keyboard, its weird, and i dont like windows os, mac-os is more my thing, but that comes from 15+ yrs of using only mac-os.
so far i have enjoyed watching videos online, streaming only, and this computer works with every video hosting site i have come across.
All this for the low price of $327.86, after taxes, and with a one year warranty.
Last week was a very good week for me, i sold $400 worth of stuff on kijiji, and finished 3 years of taxes, then sold my return to H&R Block, plus i received two weeks of holiday pay, and got my regular paycheque....so basically i am doing ok.
That is a big change from how i have been doing all winter....stressing out, worrying, and not able to accomplish much because of the anxiety..
i guess i paid some dues and now its time to reap a few rewards.
i am just glad that i could afford to get this new netbook at this time....in case i dont have a home internet connection right away when i move....now i can just take this little thing into any tim hortons and access the web via wi-fi....i have yet to log onto the web via wi-fi, but i am sure it wont be a problem.
it isnt for anybody else out there.
and thats the update....
have a good week...

Monday, March 22, 2010

[dextrosoundlab] is.....

[dextrosoundlab] is a portal to a state of mind....even though it's my collection of musical and studio hardware, i use the gear together as a tool to open the portal into that special state of mind....
Soon I will be tearing the soundlab apart, and packing things into boxes and bags, either moving them directly into a new apartment or storing them in a self-storage space so i can have the piece of mind that my belongings are safe.
After paying off thousands of dollars worth of gear throughout the past decade, things like my Roland MC-909 & My electric guitars and amplifiers and the collection of digital and analogue effects processors, the rackmount gear, like my Midi system, my mastering tools like the sound enhancer processor and the dbx compressors and so on and so on....
I don't think I am going to post anything to my blog until I have made it past this stage of limbo....until I am settled, happily in a new home/studio.
I have begun the quest already....this wednesday I am going to tour a possible rental, a private 1-bedroom apartment, for $600/month.
That's double what I pay now!!!!
Let's just say that I've been spoiled for the last 9 years...
I am out..
I'll be back after I've weathered this storm, there's no point in dwelling upon my struggle to figure out what to do.
take care, and i'll ttyl.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Recording: Part 1



In many combo amplifiers, the speaker is not actually in the center of the cabinet, and may not be easily visible through the grill cloth. In this case, shining a flashlight through the grill cloth should allow you to easily see the position of the speaker so you can place your microphone accurately.
Recording in the same room as your amplifier

Recording close to your amplifier (especially with your guitar facing the amplifier) can have the benefits (especially at high gain settings) of increasing sustain and even achieving pleasant, controlled harmonic feedback. This is due to a resonant feedback loop between the amplifier, the speaker, your guitar pickups, and your guitar strings. You may also be able to achieve this effect when recording directly into the computer, if you are playing in the control room with the studio monitors (not headphones!) turned up loud enough. While it may sometimes be desirable to play guitar while separated from the amp (perhaps because the amp is in a bathroom, other separate room, or isolation box to keep it from bleeding into other instrument microphones when recording a live band), you will lose the opportunity for this particular feedback effect.
My guitar tone sounds so much brighter on the recording than it does when I listen to my amp!

Quite often (especially with combo amplifiers, where the amp and speaker are both in the same cabinet), guitarists get used to the sound of standing several feet above their speaker, while the speaker faces straight out parallel to the floor. Because of this, much of the high frequency content coming from the speaker never reaches your ears. If you start making it a habit to tilt the amp back, or put the amp up on a stand or tilted back on a chair so that the speaker is pointed more toward your head than your ankles, you will begin becoming accustomed to the true tone of your amp, which is the tone the microphone will record, and the tone that members of a live audience will hear. This may initially require you to make adjustments to your tone—but once you have achieved a tone you like with this new setup, you can be confident that the sound you dialed in will be picked up by a properly placed microphone.
Proximity effect

When a microphone with a cardioid pattern (explained later in the Large Diaphragm Condenser Microphones section of this article) is placed in very close proximity to the sound source being recorded, bass frequencies become artificially amplified. You may have heard a comedian cup his hand around the microphone with the mic almost inside his mouth to make his voice sound very deep when simulating “the voice of God” (or something like that). This is an example of the proximity effect. This effect can result in a very nice bass response when placing a microphone close to the speaker of your guitar cabinet or combo amplifier. In fact, the Shure SM57 is designed to make use of this effect as part of its inherent tonal characteristics.
On-axis vs. off-axis

You will see these terms mentioned later in my descriptions of the mic setup examples. On-axis basically means that the microphone element is pointed directly at the sound source (sound waves strike the microphone capsule at 0 degrees). Off-axis means (when mic’ing a speaker) that the microphone element is aimed at an angle rather than straight at the speaker (so the sound waves strike the microphone capsule at an angle). On-axis will give you the strongest signal, the best rejection of other sounds in the room, and a slightly brighter sound than off-axis. I usually mic my amp on-axis, with the mic (my trusty Shure SM57) somewhere near the edge of the speaker. However, this is not “the one right way.” The right way is the way that sounds best to you. I hope that the following examples will help you find your own path to the tone you are looking for.

The Shure SM57 Microphone: A Guitarist’s Trusty Friend

For recording guitar amplifiers, it is hard to find better bang-for-your-buck than the Shure SM57 dynamic microphone. It is an extremely durable microphone, and it can handle very high volume levels. When recording guitar amps, I recommend placing this mic just as close as you can to the speaker. In the following recordings, I have placed it right up against the speaker grill cloth.

I will mention that some people even simply hang the microphone so that the cable is draped over the top of the amp and the microphone hangs down in front of the speaker pointing directly at the floor. In this position, the type of floor makes a difference in the tone (wood, concrete, tile, or carpeted floors will result in different sounds), as well as the distance between the speaker, mic, and floor. This arrangement is likely to have the least amount of highs of anything discussed thus far, and will have less rejection of other sounds in the room (if you are recording in the same room as the rest of a band, this method would pick up more sound from the other instruments). I tend to avoid this method myself, but if you are short of mic stands, it could be helpful—and I would not discourage you from experimenting. It may turn out to be just the sound you were looking for.
Large Diaphragm Condenser Microphones

Room mics

Though one might often mic a room with a single microphone (perhaps a large diaphragm condenser), I have opted to use a stereo pair of small diaphragm condensers: specifically the AKG C 1000 S (an older dark gray pair). These microphones currently have a street price around $280/each USD. I attached them to a stereo mount on a single mic stand, one microphone just on top of the other, with the microphone elements arranged 90 degrees from each other (an XY pattern). This is to minimize the chance of phase problems I might otherwise encounter that could potentially cancel out some frequencies and change the tone of the recording in strange ways.

The newest way to record guitar is directly into the recorder of you choice via a 'front end' type of processor that generally 'models' the amp and cabinet with digital signal processing(DSP)
I have a BOSS VF-1 24 bit digital effects processor that includes Roland/Boss's COSM modelling algorithms, in this case I will mention the modelled Fender & Vox & Marshall guitar amplifiers plus the modelled guitar pedals like Boss's very own 'overdrive' and turbo overdrive....
I could just plug my guitar into the Hi impedance quarter inch input of the Boss VF-1 and use either the digital or analogue outputs to feed my digital recorders....but I like to combine the VF-1's digital sound with an ART tubeMP(a basic tube driven mic/instrument Preamplifier) and then into a DBX 163x compressor to smooth out rough edges, or not, and then through the Boss Loopstation before I record the tone in my digital workstations...
I have also got an alternative signal path for my guitar, where i bypass the VF-1, but process the guitar signal with the DBX compressor and the Tube preamp but then i go through an ElectroHarmonix Q-tron envelope filter, the Digitech rp-50 with casio expression pedal) and then the danelectro cool cats : metal, fuzz & drive....and finally the Boss RC-20xL Loop STation & the Recording rack ( roland cdx-1 discLab, roland vs-840 d.a.w, and the sony mds-je510 studio mini disc deck....

and that's the basic way to record your guitar either with pedals and multi-effects and/or the microphone and amplifier method.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

my studio gear inventory 2010

Recording:

Roland CDX-1 DiscLab Digital sampling/multiTrack workstation
Roland VS-840 Digital Studio Workstation
Sony MDS-je510 Studio MiniDisc Recorder

Guitars, FX, OutBoard gear & Amplifiers:

Ibanez GAX-30jb electric guitar
Samick ??? electric guitar
Yamaki Deluxe acoustic guitar
Dean Markley Piezo pickup

(kiel)'regal' Model-300 (vintage 5watt combo-tube amplifier circa1960)
Orange Micro-Crush amplifier
Yamaha JX-15 solid.state amplifier

ART-tubeMP Pre-amplifier
Electro-Harmonix Q-Tron & Stereo Polyphase
MXR-blueBox
Danelectro coolcat's: "drive","fuzz"&"metal"
Boss DS-1 distortion
Digitech RP-50 modelling processor
BOSS VF-1 24bit Studio Multi-Effects Processor
PAX PX-8 Echo Chamber (tape echo)
Casio Expression pedal
M-audio expression pedal
Behringer FCB-1010 midi pedalboard
Boss RC-20XL Phrase Recorder/Loop pedal
DBX 163x compressor/Limiter (I have two of these)
Alto alphaCOMP digital compression module (I have two of these)
DBX 463x Noise Gate
Behringer EX-3100 UltraFEX Sound Enhancement Processor
ART PS-4x4 Power Conditioner
SAE-2800 Solid State para-metric equalizer
ONKYO Stereo Graphic Equalizer

Peavey XR-1200c (12 ch.mixer/Power Amp/spring reverb)
Yamaha PM-100 (8ch.mixer/spring reverb unit)
Sansui AX-7 (4ch.rack mixer/spring reverb)
Behringer UB-502 (7input mixer)
Behringer UCA-202 (usb audio interface)

misc microphones: electrovoice,sony,audio technica etc....

Kenwood KA-2002 Solid.State Power Amplifier
Sony SS-78 speakers
Sony SHS-180 Powered Monitors

MIDI,Synths & Sampling:

Roland MC-909 workstation synth,sampler & sequencer
Roland D2 groovebox
Roland MKS-7 superQuartet analogue midi module
Roland D-20 keyboard synth
Roland MC-50 midi sequencer
Roland CN-20 music entry pad
Roland CF-10 digital faders
Edirol PCR-50 midi controller
Motu midiTimepiece Av
Misc. Midi routing & switch boxes by: Korg, jlCooper & Prezmith engineering
G-media PHATBOY midi controller
IVL PitchRider 4000 pitch to midi converter

misc.LoFi gear:

Realistic Concertmate 680 keyboard
Mattel Synsonics Analogue drum machine
DRUM-2 electronic drum pads
Coleco Talking Teacher
Harmonica
Kazoo

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Stereo PowerAmp/Speaker Combo of My DREAMS!


Roland is my alltime fav music gear/synthesizer company!!!! The revolutionist that I am will never be a "branded" person, but I must admit after years and years of being obsessive about a certain hobby of mine, and as the dust settles, and things have been bought and sold, broken & repaired, I see the name "roland" on many of my permanent items.
NOW as I am struggling to make a decision of what to do about my 'monitoring' needs, they release the ultimate Power amp combo:
Roland KC-110
The Roland KC-110 is optimized as a Keyboard Amplifier, but I know from experience that this is the killer solution to my studio's sonic demands.
A small bonus is that it can be powered by 6 'aa' batteries!!!! Perfect for those summer days when the power goes out in upTown!!!
I already have the 9volt ORANGE microCRUSH 3 watt guitar amp :) and this sucker is the epitome of portable stereo amplification.
I am also planning on buying the newest high end vocal processor: VP-7 Vocal Processor

there is a pedal and the desktop style machine(see photo), i wish to acquire the latter, and after that i will be ready to finally lay down vocals and/or spoken word stuff with some of the musical ideas i have been tossing around lately. The level that digital processing has reached is unbelievable now, this machine will follow my voice and add wicked harmonies, plus manipulate my voice in anyway imaginable, the VP-7 is derived from the top of the line synthesizer from Roland; the V-SYNTH , and the 'elastic audio' treatment is something that i have yet to use within my own creative process.
So my 'spring' gear "toget" list now has the Roland KC-110 at the top, then in april the roland vocal processor will be mine as well, and all in all, it will be an easy thousand dollars to spend....

Saturday, February 27, 2010

FX preferences: digital & analogue; stompboxes & multiFX

FX:
My favorite subject, as you may well know if you read this blog....but I am not worried whether or not this blog is read now or not, it's just nice to have somewhere to vent and discuss these things I like, even if it's just me and the blog wall!
For the past two days I unplugged all my single effect stompbox type pedals, just to see what life would be like if i only used my BOSS VF-1 24bit multi-effect processor, which is a half rack orange box that is amazing....however it's difficult to tweak settings on the fly, even with Midi controllers like my Behringer FCB-1010 midi pedalboard.
I was sending my guitar signal into the VF-1, then the ART tubeMP preAmp, and then the DBX163x compressor, and the final result was a vivid, real tone on all patches i made...where i set the virtual amplifiers and played with delay's & pitch shifters...all in all it's great, as long as I have time to fiddle.
Today, i plugged the stompboxes back in and took the Boss VF-1 out of the signal chain...
leaving me with :
guitar->electroHarmonix Qtron envelope filter->danelectro FUZZ->BOSS DS-1 distortion->danelectro DRiVE->Boss rc-20xl loopstation->recording rig

NOW, for playing live, improvised stuff, this is the way to go....of course you need to fiddle with volume settings on everything prior to performance, but once that's done, you can drift away into your musical la-la land, using your feet to turn off and on pedals as your jam progresses...building up swells, and fading away...it's just so darn natural feeling..

The quest for tone goes on, and I am busy today fiddling about, making loud noises, and distorting the nature of sound...

reporting back on the Yamaha JX-15 amplifier....


If you scroll down a few posts you will see the same photo of the same amplifier: the Yamaha JX-15 circa 1980 Solid State analogue guitar amplifier.
Now that I have taken some time and care to clean out the connections and pots(knobs) I am happy to say this is one heck of a unique sounding amplifier...I don't know if there is something wrong with it or what? All i know is that at any volume this sucker reacts in a most pleasing way!
I am especially happy with the modulated sound that is produced at the highest gains, a real breakup of sound as it emerges from the speaker....and at the same time the solid state electronics keep the tone clean, and not harsh.
I can see why the JX series was used for Jazz guitar...at least that's what i read on the internet....the clean tone is perfect....i even like plugging my guitar directly into the amp without effects, cranking up the input 'volume' and keeping the main volume at 9'o'clock position, cut back the treble and boost the bass slightly....and then there is even reverb!!! I just am not sure which type it is....I doubt it's digital, but maybe...a cheap 12 bit digital reverb by todays standards was state of the art in 1980....maybe it's a long analogue 'bucket brigade' circuit made to emmulate a reverb effect....i wish i knew what to look for under the hood, but if it isn't a spring reverb, i just won't know.
I am hoping that by writing about my amplifier, i will be motivated to get out of my bedroom and into my studio room to power up and have some fun.
Next time i am going to start talking about Sound Synthesis and the state of the modern Synthesizer.
until then!
Later!!!

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

dissolve me


iam idling down this razors edge, this flavor in my mind, a desire for my own time, rewind, a life seen from inside a cage -
-savior; reinvented moods elated crisp, turned pages scream out but no sound, nobody's around, and temptation meets my crumpled frustration as others crawl and sprawl wrapped amongst the dead, I am alive, but how? survive this time of deceit, believe the tongues that speak of desperate fusion & music's relentless pulsating, throbbing like a sexual demon, do you care? i do but don't but can't and won't betray your trust, at last sincerity remains, the dead speak to children running past me, having been there before in youth i couldn't translate, but now i can relate, and in my own desperate measure, a long lasting fast that left me hollow, retreating, defeated, facing the momentary lapse of treason, this scrambled egg breakfast of words has dissolved me like the grains & water in my spoon, cooked and extracted, tie off & inject, to cure what ails & sideline this byline i am out of time, i am out of time, i am out of time.

-gks/2010

Monday, February 22, 2010

guitar RiG!


Guitar "RiGs" are as personal to a musician as his private parts are to a human! And I am no different.....my present Effects RiG is as follows:
Ibanez GAX-30jb guitar
->ART tubeMP (vacuum tube preAmplifier)
->BOSS VF-1 24Bit-Digital Studio Multi-Effects Processor
->ElectroHarmonix Qtron envelope Filter
->Danelectro FUZZ
->Danelectro DRiVE
->BOSS DS-1 Distortion
->DigiTECH rp-50 (wahwah & Harmonizer/Whammy)+ Casio VP-2 Expression Pedal
->Boss RC-20XL LoopStation (Loop sampler pedal)

Then the signal can go through the Roland VS-840 Digital Audio Workstation into the Roland CDX-1 Digital Sampler/Multi-track Recorder, and further still to be captured on the Sony MDS-Je510 studio mini disc recorder....monitoring the whole time via a vintage Kenwood KA-2002 power amplifier and Sony SS-78 speakers...
or
just feed that signal to the Kiel Model-300 tube combo amp, or the Orange Micro-crush amp, or the Yamaha JX-15 amp....

I like to make sure i have many options, that is helpful during the creative process.
sitting on the sidelines is alot of useful gear which will be creeping into the mix sooner or later....

-DBX 163x compressor/Limiter (i have a pair of these half rack wonders!!!)
-ALTO alphaCOMP digital compressor modules (and I have a pair of these as well!!!)
-Behringer UltraFEX II - two channel sound Enhancer
-ElectroHarmonix PolyPHASE
-MXR Blue Box

and I am considering buying the Behringer ULTRAFEX Exciter/Enhancer, also two channels like the one I already have. I am looking to try an exciter for low frequency processing, a way to liven up the really low sounds, and i like Behringer's rackmount gear from 5 years ago and more....I don't know about the pedals and such nowadays, but i used to own a rack piece called "UltraCurve Pro" and it was awesome!!!! I was broke and had to pay bills so I sold it, but I'd say it was competition for TC electronic's Finalizer , and in my opinion Mastering music was never so fun as with the Behringer UltraCurve Pro....programming options went as deep as you would want or need to go, and I mastered a few albums I was hired to engineer, giving me the extra pay since they didn't have to take the mixdown tapes elsewhere for 'mastering'.

All this typing about effects and processing makes me hot & bothered, something only an intimate friend, or an electric guitar can solve!!!!!
later!

Sunday, February 21, 2010

guitar music for the soul.....

Growing up as a teenage boy in the 1980's, i had been influenced by a myriad of musical styles....and after the dust settled I had a rather eclectic taste music, as did this guitar player: J.Mascis, singer/songwriter and guitarist of the seminal 80's band "Dinosaur Jr"....His cover of "the Cure" song : "just like heaven" made my decade in the 90's, as "Freakscene" did for me in the 80's....
We all have our own personal soundtracks, and growing up, Dinosaur JR was frequently playing in the background of some my life's happiest and saddest moments.
His acoustic/electric solo gig's are the shit! and with his loop pedal skills he get's the message across to the listener...because of his loop pedal songs I realized that I too could enjoy myself as much as he does while playing "Alone"......

Saturday, February 20, 2010

seige on Leningrad




It's been a little while since I saw a great war movie, and yesterday the wait was over! I discovered a Russian release from 2009 called "Siege on Lenigrad"...a film where the russians spoke russian, germans spoke german, and the english spoke, you know, english.
Mira Sorvino was the lead actor, and she portrayed a british war reporter who got left behind while reporting on the front at Leningrad in 1941.
I won't carry on about this or that, and somehow spoil the film for anyone, i'll just say that this film was different from the ordinary ww2 film, because the heroes were not soldiers, but it portrayed the strength and courage of the woman in Leningrad, including the war reporter...pure and total sacrifice at the most personal level was the message if you ask me.
something that get's lost in time as we inch further and further ahead from those distant memories left deep in the social conscience of our modern world.
It can be downloaded from Metadivx at these links:

cd_1) http://www.metadivx.com/sljfytow4ugq/www.f...09.cd1.avi.html

cd_2) http://www.metadivx.com/hx1kr0nqprz3/www.f...09.cd2.avi.html

Friday, February 19, 2010

Friday's are the best day of my week.....


Every friday finally comes, and even though i don't work a 40hour work week, i start each day when my alarm bell sounds @ 2am, and by friday, i am sick of it all!
So, i leave work with my friend Dave usually around 9:30am, and we drive home, stopping first at my pharmacy, where i run in and pick up my prescription while he generously waits for me, and then we continue on our way into Waterloo's Uptown core, where i live....he drops me off, I quickly change from my grubby work clothes, and stroll down the street to my favorite greasy spoon 1950's vintage diner called "harmony lunch"...i order bacon & eggs & toast with coffee, wolf it down, pay for it, leave a tip and head to my favorite thrift store, called 'generations', which is run by the mennonite council or something like that....today i scored a stage light on a stand for $8....I carried it home, dropped it off and then headed to the town square, where my bank is, and i paid bills, grabbed some groceries, dropped them off at home, and headed back out and down a block to Long & McQuade, my local music gear retail store!!! After lurking around in there for 9 years I have made a couple of friends, whom i saw as soon as i walked in the door.....after talking about guitar amps, and drooling over expensive stuff, my friend Brandon surprised me with a beat up Yamaha JX-15, a solid state workhorse of an amp from 1980....and he just gave it to me, so i bought a can of lube/cleaning spray for $20, and also bought a casio volume control pedal that had been in stock at that store since the 80's at least....i don't know if it will be compatible with my Roland D-20 digital synthesizer keyboard, or my guitar effects loop but heck, for $10 why not try and see?
So i spent a total of $30, walked home with the JX-15 amplifier & the cleaner spray and the casio volume pedal....i really love that place...and it's the people who make it a great place to spend some money!!! I also made my march 2010 payment on my credit line at the store....another 6 months and I owe nothing.....life is good if all that mattered was my studio and my music gear!
a photo of it wasn't hard to find online, someone is selling one for $65 somewhere on craigslist! mine is better looking than this one, not as beat, but this snap shot will do, i don't have the energy to get my camera out! :)
I wish i had never sold my other ones, but life's like that, and sometimes you need the extra loot to cover your butt.
I have owned a Yorkville BassMaster-50, DeanMarkley 25watt bass amp, and a Marshall MS-4 microStack mini amp....today i own the ORANGE micro crush, the KIEL regal model-300 tube combo amp, and now the Yamaha JX-15 solid state amp.
My next mission is to settle on powered monitors.
I sold my ART SLA-1(100watt power amp) and my pair of Yorkville Ysm-1 speakers two years ago...
....I wish i didn't have to sell them to pay for stuff, because i would really rather have that set up for my monitoring needs.
But alas, here i am about to invest some dough soon on powered monitors, and I think i will get the new Yorkville powered monitors, YSM-?, i could be wrong about the model name, they are the same as my old speakers, except these come with amplification so i won't need to buy a rackmount power amp again...
I almost bought the Behringer EX-3200, an exciter/enhancer rack unit, for $55, on sale, i already own the earlier model, but I hesitated, because i had to pay bills today.
I am sure it will be around next week though.....when i go through this friday ritual again!
i am outa here, time for some movie marathon madness.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

I don't know....


I don't know what I am doing half the time. The other half I am going on instinct, and thankfully my instincts don't completely ruin my life.
I woke up today at 1:30am, silently got ready for work, and was even downstairs 5 minutes early, sipping my coffee and smoking a cigarette..waiting for my friend to pull up across the street and take us to work.
I've followed this routine for 5 years and six months nearly to day. Monday to Friday. But today I barely spoke during the work shift, and didn't get annoyed in any obvious way when people of authority made certain demands that, like always were a waste of time and extra work for me. I just nodded, and did whatever.

My love life is non-existent and today i acted on the advice of the little voice in my head and I am pretty sure It was the right thing to do, but what if It WASN'T???? I don't even want to think about that!!
anyways moving along, my best guy friends live thousands of miles away, and by my age a person has learned that friends like that cannot be replaced, ever...so how can I make it work? What do I need to do? I feel like my brain is swelling slowly but consistently pulsing outwards, my temples bulge with anxious tension.
I am imprisoned by my job, reliant on my benefit plan for reasons that are too personal to talk about here and the easy money that keeps me very well above poverty line and leaves me with entire days and early evenings free....but what do I do? I sit here and mess around with blogs for hours, the only productive thing is that i practice electric guitar alot, more than ever, and this gives me something more to do and I keep busy by myself.
Some days are this way, and some years pass by quickly...the past two years have disappeared under the waves, washed away to the back of my mind, a distant memory that seems like a dream.
My head hurts, and I think I better stop starring at the screen.

In parting I'll say: may all your days be prosperous and all your wishes come true!
peace brothers & sisters,
adios bendeco's
I am out.
ttyl.

Monday, February 15, 2010

decisions of consequence (1990)

I have been rooting through bags and boxes of crap i have, sorting the 'garbage' from stuff that i will keep....hopefully i can get back on top of keeping my place habitable again.
I unearthed a stack of journals, and piles of loose paper, on them bore the scribbles and thoughts from my manic youth.
This is a simple & honest journal entry, written in winter 1990 while i lived in an apartment in downtown Oakville,Ontario....

Decisions of Consequence

It was a cold day. The air feels and the sky looked, cold. Walking outside I felt empty. "What should I do?" i thought to myself as I stood outside my door, contemplating the day ahead. Indeed a decision which came with great consequences, but one I should make before I freeze out here!
I begin to walk, alone, down my street towards the main strip two blocks away. A few people were filtering around the street corner. A drug dealer and old people waiting for the bus. A block away I can see the neighborhood foot patrol policeman talking to some guy sitting on the curb.
I turn and head south when i reach the intersection. At the variety store I grab smokes.
Outside, lighting a cigarette, then inhaling as deep as possible, on the exhale i notice my friend Mike sneaking up beside me in a vain attempt to surprise me...it didn't work.
Without words being said, we head downtown, and find warmth within minutes sitting on our stools at 'our' bar.

Mike reaches over and fills two high ball glasses with draft, then while handing me one he drains the other down his throat in seconds flat and proceeds to fill the glass a second time.
Our friend owns and runs the bar, and although refuses to let us have 'free pints', he has no problem with us filling up the smaller 'high ball' glasses, a hundred times daily!
This is Mike's job; pouring draft glasses for the downtown daytime drunks, every town has at least one, a dark & gloomy shithole with patrons ranging from underage kids, to old alcoholic men...
And so, we drink & smoke, and talk for about three hours before I decide that I am drunk, and I should go.
Like a new scene in the movies, moments later i am outside in this ungodly cold. I can see my breath, like smoke exhaling, and my nose is frozen within minutes.
I feel like i am staggering, my head is spinning, round & round. Lately I've been noticing differences in me when i drink.
I figure it must be those pills I take for pain...I just learned that codeine & morphine doesn't mix with booze very well!

I get my stability back and finally make it home.
Slowly I remove my jacket, boots, emptying my pockets on the counter top and climb into my bed.
Laying there within the warmth of my comforter I think to myself; a reflection of my day and have a moment of clarity when I realize that my greatest fault just had to be 'decision making'.
And now I must face the consequences of my actions because I am still unemployed and collecting welfare...leaving me cold, worthless and empty inside.

Isle of Dread...

Between 1995-1999 i was part of a two person Live Electronic music thing.....people called our performances: Live P.a., we didn't call ourselves anything, except :"GYPE", a name that was used hundreds of years ago on ships sailing the seas; "Argggh matey, clean that GYPE off the deck!!!!"
Since our first studio/home was a cheap HouseBoat, parked at 'Fishermans Wharf" in Victoria,Bc, we thought it was an appropriate word to use...there was also a wharf dog, a black Lab who was also named 'Gype'... like i said, the name fit.
We played our first show on jan.2 and 3rd 1996 at the popular hang out on the edge of the inner Harbour called "Zombie's"....so we loaded our equipment onto a 45 foot beat up yaht that a fellow 'wharf dude' owned and he got us to the inner harbour from the wharf in no time, and our manager 'larry the dread' was waiting with shopping carts to wheel our gear to the gig...and that's how it began...

Our time came to an end in victoria, but not before headlining at a large venue, a concert hall called the 'Phoenix' on Pandora st. on halloween 1998....800 tickets sold, and since it was in the heart of the downtown core, more people showed up at the door....so who knows what the final tally was....it was a night of tribal drumming, paegan dancers, nude & smeared with 'mud'(looked like mud) and various DJ set's with guest dj's from Van.,seattle, san fran & victoria...plus our friends the Philosopher Stone, a funk jam band, and finally 'Gype', and we did our unusual improvised electronic set, begining with a heartbeat, and layers upon layers of sound waves and tones, cut ups, loops and verbal rants...

I rediscovered a live recording from that show, a tune we named "isle of dread", which was a dedicated to our loyal manager who i mentioned above; Larry Dread....who by the way got so drunk and ignorant he was kicked out of every show we ever played...

http://radio3.cbc.ca/play/band/INTerminus/isle-of-dread

Sunday, February 14, 2010

St.Valentine's cure

Every year Febuary 14th arrives triggering mass sales of flowers, cards and chocolate...for once in my life i am not going to be critical. I feel pretty darn good, and I don't have a "sweetheart"! So I thought it might be cool to post something that could really help people in the department of 'LOVE'.
So i did some research last night on the ancient musical scale known as the "Solfeggio frequencies"....and keeping with the mood of this day I uploaded a short video of the specific frequency:

LA - 852 Hz - associated with a pure love frequency: unconditional love and returning to Spiritual Order

Perhaps, there is a healing benefit from this, I believe there is. I for one am like the idea of healthy, unconditional love, and spiritual order.
I will continue to introduce other related Aural tone frequency vid's &'Binaural Beats" information to this blog, plus i will have a video tomorrow showing how specific sound frequencies can create 'physical form'....neat stuff.

scroll down to see the 'solfeggio' valentine's day experiment....

Solfeggio Frequencies & Binaural Beats

Along with guitar music and synthesizer based electronic music, during the 1990's while living on SaltSpring Island British Columbia i was introduced to this interesting topic surrounding the ancient Solfeggio Scales & Binaural Beats.

The Solfeggio frequencies are from an ancient musical scale used in ancient music, chants and ceremonies. The Solfeggio tones were believed to enable spiritual blessings and transformation when played or sung in harmony. some genetic biochemists suggest the frequency 528Hz is the repair frequency for damaged DNA.

Regardless, as each note has a different tuning from the conventional musical scale, these tones provide a new stimulus to the mind and body, providing many benefits such as brain plasticity. This keeps the brain young, healthy and active; and as the mind becomes healthy, so too does the physical body.

Solfeggio Hz Meditation is a modern adaptation of the ancient Solfeggio scale, Solfeggio Hz Meditation can be played as ambient music or with stereo headphones, making it a powerful audio healing tool for relaxation, greater personal development and transformation.

Listen to this with stereo headphones for Theta brainwaves





The Solfeggio Scale and note names;
1. UT...396 Hz (Center Pillar of the Tree)
2. RE...417 Hz (Left Pillar of the Tree)
3. MI...528 Hz (Right Pillar of the Tree)
4. FA...639 Hz (Center Pillar of the Tree)
5. SOL...741 Hz (Left Pillar of the Tree)
6. LA...852 Hz (Right Pillar of the Tree)

UT - 396 Hz -associated with releasing emotional patterns after: see RE-417Hz below.

RE - 417 Hz -associated with breaking up crystallized emotional patterns

MI - 528 Hz - relates to crown chakra; some scientists suggest an association with "DNA integrity" Transformation and Miracles

FA - 639 Hz - associated with whole brain quadrant interconnectedness. Connecting Relationships

SOL - 741 Hz - associated with intuitive states, non linear knowing and awakening intuition

LA - 852 Hz - associated with a pure love frequency: unconditional love and returning to Spiritual Order


SOLFEGGIO ARPEGGIO:

Here is a great example of how the solfeggio scale can be utilized in ambient trance music the Solfeggio Arpeggio repeats these frequencies 396 417 528 639 741 852 963

The 3 electronic drums used are not frequency pitched to the Solfeggio scale; rather frequency processed, tuned and equalized to be harmonically compatible.
This gives the percussion; a Solfeggio harmonic overtone.

Saturday, February 13, 2010


As the ancient alchemist works in dark hoping to discover the truths of the universe and reveal the light within, I too am caught in the middle of my own personal search, my search for purpose, meaning and belonging.
Sometimes our choices may seem trivial at the time they are made, but like the nature of chaos, all it takes is a butterfly to flap it wings and like a wave in the ocean it doesn't stop until it breaks on a distant shoreline...My wave is still pulsing, unbroken, and in the middle of the ocean called 'my life'. Sometimes it feels like land is close, and maybe it is right in front of me, but then i am faced with a simple choice, to say a word, a gesture, an action, and the effect can be devestating, I just won't realize it for some time.
The trouble is; you can't go back against the current and correct that mistaken choice you made, you have to live with the outcome, even if it leaves you lonely, depressed or even dead.
Opportunity does not always reveal it's face until it's gone, and regret can be devastating, especially if you made a wrong choice which ends up altering your destiny.
I often think that if the theory of reincarnation is true, perhaps, we are reborn again and again, each time confronted with our opportunity to make the right choice, and live out this life surrounded by real love, and that could be the ultimate meaning of life, just real love....and then the wave created can finally break, finding peace on the shore.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

just like heaven....

Show me how you do that trick
The one that makes me scream she said
The one that makes me laugh she said
And threw her arms around my neck
Show me how you do it
And I promise you I promise that
I'll run away with you
I'll run away with you

Spinning on that dizzy edge
I kissed her face and kissed her head
And dreamed of all the different ways I had
To make her glow
Why are you so far away? she said
Why won't you ever know that I'm in love with you
That I'm in love with you

You
Soft and only
You
Lost and lonely
You
Strange as angels
Dancing in the deepest oceans
Twisting in the water
You're just like a dream

Daylight licked me into shape
I must have been asleep for days
And moving lips to breathe her name
I opened up my eyes
And found myself alone alone
Alone above a raging sea
That stole the only girl I loved
And drowned her deep inside of me

You
Soft and only
You
Lost and lonely
You
Just like heaven

*This is one of my alltime favorite lyrics, i wish i had written this at one time in my life, when it conveyed exactly how i felt inside......but Robert Smith beat me too it.....and then when "J.Mascis" & "Dinosaur JR." covered it as an encore in concert I nearly flipped my lid......oh, and J.M is right up there with Jimmy Page in my books, what a guitarist! I think the live version kicks the ass off the studio cover that DinoJR put on an album....


My new Ibanez GAX-30[Jewel_Blue] electric guitar....sure it's inexpensive, but it ain't cheap! The spec's are impressive for such a low price($149)cdn.
It is easily 30% lighter in weight than my other old Samick electric....i like the double cut-a-way body, and dark colored fret board....but all of that aside, once i replaced the ultra-light factory installed strings with my usual 'medium-light' "11's" I was amazed at how easy it was to play....nice action, and with dual humbucker pick-ups, the raw tone is huge....My roomate has a 1980 Gibson Sonnex, which he compares this sucker to....
I have it plugged into a 1958 Kiel/velvetone Combo Tube Amplifier via the usual effects chain i like: guitar->eh-Qtron->danelectro Fuzz->mxr-blu-box->boss rc-20XL loop pedal->amplifier.....
I am considering an opportunity to buy a 1963 Gibson Falcon combo tube amp......for $600, just back from our gear tech's work bench, fully restored.....In another ten years a rarity like this could double in value, i don't know yet, but if i do get it, i'll post a pic here.
Enough writing about it, now's a good time to plug in and freak out for a while....

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

how much do I love listening to Kyuss?

So much that I prefer to keep an old little Radio shack "realistic" cassette deck around with an store bought copy of the 1994 masterpiece of an album called "welcome to sky valley"......an album which begins with 'gardenia'.....there are no words to describe how three dudes can come together and the end result is so much greater than the sum of all its parts......and by the way, my roomate's band is next door playing that exact tune right now!
'odyssey', 'space cadet', 'Supa Scoopa & mighty Scoop', 100degrees(sssssssATAN it's 100degrees and iam on my knees......)What a song! I could go on and on....but i am going let the Kyuss grimey grooves soothe me to sleep.....

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

idle time....

I've got way too much time on my hands lately....up until last year I did alot of studio engineer jobs, all freelance, and that suited me just fine, mainly because it is always a learning experience....working your way through a project, another artists project, where you try and capture the true essence of their performances...After nearly 10 yrs of doing those jobs for money or not, i have become quite pleased with my proficiency within a recording studio...i know that i could walk into any set up, anywhere in the world, and at a moments notice get down to business....
The trouble is though, i was getting bored....i was starting to get annoyed at the prospect of hearing the same songs a thousand times...and i just couldn't put my heart into it...so now I am trying to put all my energy into becoming a guitarist of some sort.
I have 'strummed' acoustic guitar rhythmically for many years, just like campfire stuff, or neil young, and my own acoustic covers of my favorite hardcore ( i play a mean "wasted again" by black flag Cover on my acoustic) But now I want to be able to pick up that electric guitar, and not have to think about what i am playing, just enable the instrument to become an extension of my body, and play it like it's a reflex action...
I can do anything i set my mind to when i am playing with my synthesizers, even though i program my sequencers, firstly i noodle away on the keyboard, and then record the performance into the midi sequencer, and play that back while I noodle further, adding missing notes, or arpeggios...and on and on, layers tones, upon tones, and it usually sounds pretty cool...
Guitar is another situation all together, and I think that's why I have become obsessive about it, neglecting the synths to practice and practice and practice guitar.... Like I have mentioned in previous posts, I always utilize a myriad of electronic effects, both analogue and digital....spending hours, upon hours, of tedious experimentations before I settle on the final sound.
If only i could play wicked riffs like my roomate!
maybe someday.

Monday, February 8, 2010

external forces & my own personal brain damage....

I am home from my job, and you might think that's great, now you can do something you like for the day, but no, I am drained & sucked dry, the level of anxiety in my workplace is like a gigantic soul sucking vampire....and it's not just one or two people who cause the swell of tension, well, in a small way it is two particularly incompetent people...but the tension lasts because of everybody's reaction to those two people's anxiety.
Anyways, that's just the tip of the iceberg, the rest of my life is stable, and I am constantly educating myself, reading new things, I force myself to practice guitar, and I continue to enjoy my synthesizers and tone generators...but that's just hobby stuff.
When I step back and take a closer look at myself, i see a person who is safely tucked away from the world most of the time. I rarely meet new people, and when I do meet a random new person, they haven't really been a person who i would bond with.
My old friends around the country are all asking me to finally come and visit them, and I feel pressure not to be dick....but I am forced to choose who i can visit this year, and that is annoying.....because i have to give excuses to some and make promises to others. Then once i visit, it will suck to have to leave, because when I go home....what is my home?
Well, for one thing, my home is filled with thousands of dollars worth of studio equipment....which amounts to nothing....just a bunch of metal, and electronic stuff.
There is no love, and I can tell when i am lazy about working in my studio....it's like "what's the point", i am just killing time....until I die.
Not exactly, that sounds like Iam manic depressive or something.....or something. but what?
Picasso had his muses, and the result was his art.
My memories are faded, but i know that my creative spirit takes gigantic leaps and bounds when my life was different than it is today. Back when I let people into my heart.
I've been in this city for 8-9 years, and for personal reasons, I chose to take some time to learn about who exactly I was, to make some lifestyle changes, which i hoped would be for the better...and I think it's carried away a bit, because today, i struggle with my own self doubt on a daily basis, I know i cannot go on sheltered from the world...I am not benefiting from that...it's crystal clear, because I am such a chicken when it comes to approaching a new person, like a woman i might feel drawn to romantically, and even just as friends....all the let downs in my past have definitely formed a mental barrier... to help me avoid the phonies, and the bull shitters, and i can't forget the time wasters & lies...and to avoid heart-ache.
Maybe I need some heart ache to feel alive again?
Maybe I need to just take a chance on someone, and let them prove my introverted anxious brain wrong?

I would like to find other musical weirdos or sound alchemists who want to collaborate, and have some fun....but even that seems impossible.

Recently I have come face to face with the reality of my mental barriers, where it has taken me a long time to write a stranger an email, on a internet dating site...and even with a computer and the internet between us....I find myself far to nervous to make an impression on anyone other than a doctor.... sure, we all have to overcome our fears....but what the heck am I afraid of, other than things that make a person feel alive....I mean, i've lived through heart break, more than once, and sure it was terrible, and took what at the time seemed like forever to get over....but those experiences were always the ones that make the new good experiences feel so much better!
I am still only scratching at the surface, coming to grips with my feelings is not a simple task.
I don't think men come equipped with that skill, it has to be figured out, the hard way.
I really wish there was some sort of test that people could take that showed whether or not they were compatible...like a dna compatibility test.
Where it shows that the merger of the two people will produce a relationship that is greater than the sum of its parts.

I should just go crank up my amplifier and cause some hearing damage to myself, maybe that will help me feel alive for the time being.

Anyways, who the hell knows why certain people's influence can trigger a creative avalanche, like in Picasso's case. I don't recall all the names of his muses, oh, there's one....Francois Gilot, i think that's her last name, and of course Pablo had an entire 'period' in his artistic career inspired by his friendship & love for her.

I miss Victoria, just walking downtown, random strangers brush by me, and actually make eye contact, then even say "good morning" with a smile!!!!

That is something which has not happened to me here in southern ontario.

If I said good morning to a stranger, they would probably not know I was saying it to them, because they were looking at the ground, avoiding eye contact.

It's just a different place, different people, basically a different society.
I sure am glad I am going there soon.

Maybe after two weeks in Victoria, and/or Saltspring Island will be the theraputic break I need?
In my perfect world, i would just stay on Saltspring Island, and life would be real again....
Like the year that I lived in an old school bus, that was converted into a mini house, I had a bed, propane stove but no running water, and a wood burning stove for heat.
The days of waking up with the sun, and spending my days doing odd jobs around the island for money, and sketching, painting and writing everyday.
Nearly everybody I knew there was similar to me, creative, and sick of the rat race.
And now, I am here in Southern Ontario, and in 8-9 yrs, I have yet to meet a kindred spirit.
Allright, enough of this, time to make my ears bleed....

Sunday, February 7, 2010

'synthesizer freaks' @facebook

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=19274983848

-during spring & summer 2007 i had alot of free time while off work due to injury, so i thought I would see if there were other obsessed synthesizer twits out there, specifically out there on facebook....so i started this group: synthesizer freaks
It turns out there are quite a few synth twits on facebook, from all over the world, it is a very multicultural collection of like minded people.

ameanstoanend

I am hard pressed to say why I have neglected my real music, and only spent time wanking away with a loop pedal and electric guitar... Even as I receive emails from my only fans who happen to be cbc producers out west, I make idle promises to compile some tracks and forward the masters to them, but once I sit down and start messing away, I look at the guitar, and end up twanging away, basically wasting time, every year or so, my flat mate who is a real guitarist compliments me on my progress, so maybe there is some progress...None the less, I waste my web space by uploading improvised snipets of my guitar lesson jams, just to keep the site active and current...but I ignore the stack of multi-track mixes, ready for mixdown and mastering....all of it is electronic and electro-acoustic drum & bass'ish stuff....The fact that I am not prepared to do anything live is holding me back, it's difficult to do a "Live P.A." performance alone, at least that's what's holding me back.
I need to find inspiration...but working a day job for a beastly corporation should be enough of a motivating factor to get me back on track...
Apparently I can make money programming synthesized sounds for people....a friend is encouraging me to consider an offer to do that....we'll see, maybe it would be fun to make money from designing original disturbing tones...
Maybe I should just shut up and get to work!!! Instead of whining about it on my blog that only I read lol(:>p)

Saturday, January 23, 2010

'distortion', Fuzz & O.D

My electric guitar is really just a reason for me to obsess over effect pedals and processors.....as for 'distortion' type effects my guitar can utilize everything from digital and anaglogue effects plus a 5watt vintage combo tube amp.
I also have an ART tube-MP, a tube pre-amp box that makes all the difference in the world to the final tone I create....the signal path is: out of guitar->art tubeMP->Boss VF-1 digital multi-FX/24 bit->EH-qTron->danelectro drive->danelectro fuzz->boss loopstation 20xL....
The Boss VF-1 is a superb digital processor....everything is inside this orange half rack box.
The ART tube MP has a +20 db button which is best with a guitar, then you crank up the input gain knob, and I've found that keeping the output knob at 12 o-clock position produces a fine overdriven tube tone, which then goes through the Boss vf-1(bypass), then into the electroHarmonix Qtron envelope filter which is a topic for a future blog posting, now we reach the pair of danelectro pedals from the cool cat series; FUZZ & DRIVE....coloured in Orange, and Silver respectively....the FUzz is my most recent pedal aquisition, and I have yet to experience all of it's charm, so far I have figured out how important the volume on my guitar affects the dynamic response of the Fuzz pedal....it creates thick and screaming fuzz tones straight from hendrix & led zepplin .... it's cliche but heck it's true!
I also own the MXR blue box, which is a strange octave/fuzz device that almost seems like it is useless cause everything that goes through it get's 'mangled' to the point that it sounds unpleasant....well, not that unpleasant, i guess i just haven't used it correctly....and now the danelectro DRIVE pedal is the one i first bought in this series, and I love the dynamic response it provides, deep bass swelling rumble and even when I use it with the 'drive' knob at zero, the tone knob helps roll back high frequencies and smooth out an otherwise harsh sound while providing a clean boost in overall volume.
The previously mentioned Boss VF-1 has all of Roland's 'cosm' modelling processes inside of it....Amplifier models like the Marshall's and Vox's and of course the Roland JC-120 is here, as for distorition, there are digital models of the turbo overdrive, the DS-1 distortion, overdrive, blues driver, Fuzz 1 and Fuzz 2.....which is a handy arsenal of tone tools....
One other important tool I use with my distortion and overdrive effects chain is "compression", either with a compressor, or a Limiter....I have two DBX163x compressor/Limiter's, and two Alto alphaComp Compressor's plus the Boss VF-1 has both compression and Limiter effects included....
My Roland Studio workstations (VS-840 & CDX-1 Disc Lab) have 24 bit digital effects processor's built in, and generally I process even a live recording through the onboard multi-band compressor of the Roland CDX-1 Disc Lab....I always keep this in mind when I am getting into 'distortion' and volume dynamics processing with tools like the compressor.
Guitar isn't the only instrument to benefit from a distortion circuit....my digital synthesizer's like the Roland D-20 and the Roland D2 GrooveBox sound incredible when the are fed through an overdrive unit....electronic drums are especially great with the tight crunch of the kick drum after it's mildly distorted.
I have read that my Danelectro Fuzz pedal is very similar to the ElectroHarmonix BigMuff, in fact i was recently told that they are replacing all the original pedals in the "cool cat' series with 'Version-2' models....I am going to look into this more, but the reason I was told was that there were copywritten circuit design's in the original pedals, so a court ordered that danelectro stop making them....
like I said i am going to look it up and see if it's true.
and on that note I'll say good day!