Fundamentals Week One

So I am taking an online college course (Fundamentals of Drum Kit) on drums through Berklee School of Music. Monday was my first day. So far I really like the format. The concept of having assignments due is a little terrifying, but so far so good. The first lesson was a lot of basics that I already had down...but plenty that was challenging too. It reassured me that I have a solid musical background (if you went into this course not knowing how to read music, I think you'd be lost, even though the course is supposed to cover that). It DOES make me a little nervous for future lessons...because once we hit the stuff that I don't know it'll feel crazy fast. They aren't waiting for anyone to catch up...let's put it that way. And I will pretty much need to work on this every night of the week to get my assignments turned in on time. Here's the topic outline and the assignment songs for each week:

Week 1, Basics: Separate Ways
Week 2, Basics: Flashlight
Week 3, Time and Ghost Notes: Cold Sweat
Week 4, Single Stroke Rolls and 32nds: Swingtown
Week 5, Double stroke open and bossa nova: The Girl From Ipanema
Week 6, Samba: variations
Week 7, Half-time suffle: Rosanna
Week 8, Compound meter grooves: Spellbound
Week 9, Afro-Cuban 6/8: Afro Blue
Week 10, Jazz Shuffle: Things Ain’t What they used to be
Week 11, Swinging: April in Paris
Week 12, Cha Cha: Naima

The format is...several videos by the instructor on various topics with text, sheet music and audio files to accompany. There's a discussion question...a weekly live chat (which I can probably only make some of the time due to work)...and two songs to learn (an etude and a pop song), record, and turn in. The first song is simple...but has challenging elements.

Here's the hardest part of the song for me...though this part is in the "extra credit" portion of the assignment.

Like I said, if I didn't already read music...and read DRUM music...it would be SUPER hard. As it is I'm gonna have to work on the song a bunch. I already have the book that most of these songs come out of...along with a slow-downer cd which will help...so I can work ahead a bit. I've been trying to learn Swingtown for years...so they aren't easy. The Latin grooves terrify me too...but of course that's why I'm doing this...to be challenged and go to the next level. I really like being able to work alone and at my own pace. So far they seem to do a good job with the pacing and materials (better than other online lessons I've seen)...so I think it will be good. Guaranteed freakout at some point in the next 12 weeks though. Don't say I didn't tell you so. It will probably happen the week of Feb 6th...just saying...I know myself but always forget.

Drum "Riser" Project

I've been having a hell of a time with my setup at home. Pedal problems...then bounce problems. Last weekend I put down some 2x8 boards under the kit and most of my issues seem resolved. But it's pretty unstable and looks like shit. So this weekend I'm going to try to build a more permanent solution.

My goal is not a riser so much as to have the entire drum kit and all the stands on a single piece of wood that doesn't bounce. Sturdy. And it has to be cheap and easy. I've read a bit that true risers have all kinds of good and bad sonic side-effects...and I'm just not fancy enough to deal with all of that. So I will not be looking to get any height off the floor. Just to solidify everything.

I think that I will shoot for either a (5 ft x 5ft) or a (5 ft x whatever size fits in the space and means I don't have to cut many pieces of wood) footprint of 3/4 inch to 1 1/8 inch particle board. The bottom to be reinforced by 2x4s. The 2x4s I plan to lay down on the wide edge. I might change my mind about this and put them on the thin edge...but I don't want much air space under the "riser" to avoid the aforementioned sonic side-effects. We'll see. If I lay down the particle board and it does the trick by itself I might not even worry with bracing. If I do the bracing, I'm thinking 6 - 2x4s. Much of the design concept is based on my loft bed.

Update:
Well, the end prodect seems to be working pretty good, but it didn't end up going how I thought it would. I figured out pretty quickly that I wasn't strong enough to move a huge sheet of particle board and that it wouldn't fit in my car. So I changed my mind and bought small sheets instead. Feeling cheap and lazy, I also gave up the idea of cross braces. So here it is:

What this is...is four 2 ft by 4 ft by 3/4 inch sheets of particle board. They were called handy sheets or something like that. On top of that is two 2 ft x 3 ft thin indoor/outdoor carpets with rubber backing. I bought some plates to nail them together, but have decided to see if I can avoid any kind of faseners at all. The final footprint is 6 ft wide at the front and 4 foot long for the bulk of the piece. There's an extra 2x4 tacked on the back to give an extra base for the throne and my vocal mic. It was sort of optional but makes things less crowded. I didn't put a carpet on this section. It is sort of offset...so that the back left side is deeper than the the back right side. It looks uneven because of this, but it works great for the space. I didn't have to move any other furniture and I don't need the base were it isn't...so it is actually perfect. There wasn't a single cut made, hole drilled, or nail pounded. It took 2 hours to put together from the moment I got in the car to buy the supplies to finished.

It works ok. I think it would work better if the sheets were 2 inches deep like the planks I'd been using were. I looked into that, but again...too heavy to move and too big for the car. I have the bass drum and pedal all on one sheet together. That seems to be the key. It bounces a bit on the particle board...but only at the top of the toms...the pedal and bass drum don't seem to be bouncing against each other any more. I played for 2 hours straight last night will no leg pain or difficultly in execution. Played The Drain and Green Day and crap like that with fast bass pedal to really test it.

The sheets were about $6.50 each and the carpets were $9 each. I bought too much supplies...but of what I actually used...the cost was just about $38-40.

Update on Pixies Tunes

Last night was a good reminder that people all have different ways of looking at the world. CJ discussed what songs we plan to bother learning. I've been discussing that here with myself over the last week and thought I had a handle on it. But everyone is different, and so I was a little surprised by what everyone else thought.

There was really only three of us in on the conversation, so it is entirely possible that we missed "Joey's" opinions and that those could change things again...but here's what we agreed to work on...

Ana
Wave UK
Space
Velvety
Lovely Day
Build High
Weird at My School
Cecilia Ann
Rock Music
Hangwire
Dance the Manta Ray
Motorway to Roswell
In Heaven (Kim Deal version)
Rock a My Soul
The Happening
(update: on 1/11/2012 we decided to add Santo to above list)

Bailey's Walk was vetoed for being too screamy though I feel like it is a key b-side (we'll do the Kim Deal version of "In Heaven" for the same reason). I was shocked...shocked...to see "Velvety" rise to the top of the list. I listened to it a dozen times this morning and it won't be hard to pick up...but it still surprised me as I'd totally written it off. It's a fun song though, so I'm fine with it. I was also a little surprised to see "Lovely Day" on the list...but I'll have it ready soon so that's fine. "Rock A My Soul" isn't as suprising as it might be because I've always known that EH loves it...but it will be harder to find videos (it is in the TT Bear's video, but the quality is poor) and tab for. I have some draft chords and that's it.

This leaves the following to be undone in theory...

All Over the World
Stormy Weather (though RS expressed some love for it)
Havalina
Navajo Know (CT loves this, the rest of us hate it, so it is still up to debate)
Bailey's Walk
Make Believe
The Thing
Santo (update: on 1/11/2012 we decided to add this to above list)
Bam Thwok
Boom Chicka Boom
Theme from NARC

and all the remaining covers
Winterlong (EH hates this song)
Evil Hearted You
Wild Honey Pie
Ain't that Pretty At All
Can't Forget
Born in Chicago
Hang on to Your Ego
I've Been Waiting

Everything is still up to debate, of course...and the idea of doing a "weird ass" song show isn't off the table, in which case everything is game. There's nothing left off that I have strong love for...though I DO think that we ought to play total Bossonova and total Trompe shows...so I'm probably push to learn those tunes to perform at least once.

Last night we blasted through Blown Away, Bird Dream, and D=RxT like they were nothing, though I know that CT still isn't happy with his parts. Next week we'll tackle Ana, Wave UK, Space (or at least get a start on it...since this is probably the hardest song left...maybe the hardest song period besides maybe Alec Eiffel), and Velvety.

The Home Stretch

A few days ago I posted about the remaining Pixies songs left to tab. Since then I finished "Weird at My School" and I realized that "Wild Honey Pie" is essentially done too. Beyond that, let's drill down.

Remaining songs that are incomplete:15 songs

Album-based: 1 song
Lovely Day

B-sides: 7 songs
Rock A My Soul
Make Believe
Velvety Instrumental
Santo
Bam Thwok
Boom Chicka Boom
Theme from Narc (kind of a cover too)

Unreleased: 1 song
Brackish Boy

Covers: 6 songs
Evil Hearted You (Yardbirds)
Ain't That Pretty at All (Warren Zevon)
I Can't Forget (Leonard Cohen)
Born in Chicago (Paul Butterfield Blues Band)
Hang on to Your Ego (Beach Boys)
I've Been Waiting For You (Neil Young)

I am going to make a judgement call and say that the unreleased song and the covers are totally and completely unneccesary. Not that I won't still try to learn them...but really these just don't count.

So that leaves only the album-based song and the b-sides...and that's 8 songs. I'm nearly done with "Lovely Day"...so that's only a matter of time. The 7 remaining b-sides may or may not ever get done.

"Rock a My Soul" and "Boom Chicka Boom" are songs that they only played early in their career and no one but a die hard Pixies fan would have ever heard them. I think "Rock a My Soul" is only on the purple tape and that "Boom Chicka Boom" only exists in early performance video. "Bam Thwok" while being a song that I love, really isn't part of the core catalog. I don't think it was ever released anywhere but through itunes and I don't know if it is still available. The fact that they have toured widely after recording it but never play it speaks volumes. The other four...Make Believe, Velvety Instrumental, Santo, Theme from Narc...are b-sides that they've also chosen not to play in the modern era. "Velvety" Frank Black recorded later in his career with lyrics, so I feel like that's really one of his songs, not a Pixies song proper and I suspect that they feel that way too. I read an interview in which Kim Deal said that she should be killed for writing "Make Believe" even though I think it is kind of hilarious. Still it is by far the most jokey and most dated of their songs and probably better left alone. "Theme from Narc" is just fucking hard to play I think. I've not attempted the bass line, but the right foot bass drum is fast and I don't want to put EH through that. It's another "only a die hard Pixies fan would care about this" song. And that leaves "Santo"...which I recall the last time it was brought up in rehearsal being given a certain "Ah...Santo" dismissive tone. I don't know that it is such a bad song...but not well known for sure.

For my personal sense of completeness, of course, I'm never gonna feel right unless I tab all 89 songs. But reasonably speaking, I'm also getting tired of this project and know that these last few serve no purpose. We will never play them live...or if we do we'd play them once only in some special kind of "weird songs" set. Even if we did that...there are plenty enough good b-sides and rarities that these don't seem to rise to the call.

And so I'm left thinking that Lovely Day may end up being the last Pixies song that I tab. Which seems both weird and anti-climatic. At the start if one would wager what the last song would be...I doubt Lovely Day would have been the bet. That said...I didn't even know the names of all the songs at the start...so I wouldn't have been able to make an informed wager. In the end Lovely Day falls to the end because no one else has posted the bass tab on the web yet...which either means that no one cares about the song or that the bass line is so easy that it isn't worth tabbing. I don't think the latter is completely true (since it is taking me a bit to figure out)...nor has it guided whether other tab has been posted...I mean "Where Is My Mind" is tabbed in a billion places...and that's pretty damn easy. So while I'd argue that "The Navajo Know" is the worst Pixies song...perhaps the bass players out there in the world think it is "Lovely Day."

More likely...I've been caring about this far longer than any reasonable person should.

Lovely Day

Lovely Day Structure

Intro:
8 measures, probably in Bm

Verse:
Bm
At the station
at the border
an egression G F#
to the exterior law and order upward plantation


Bm
i remember your red dress
like a field full o' poppy
you were making me dreamy G F#
stunned by a love got to do what your head says could not let it stop me



Chorus:
D G Em7
they got one leaving today
D G Em7
they got one leaving today
D G Em7
they got one leaving today X 2
G F#
and it's going away

(there’s a transition of a few measures, first guess as follows: Bm F#7)

Verse:
Bm
got my feet in the stirrup
it can be kind of banal G F#
but i dream of your red dress riding down these dry canals oh baby it's not europe

Bridge (1:12):
Bm
but i'm sending you money
i'm sending you lots of money
so you can buy a ticket
you will be my martian
honey
all the
G F#
day

Chorus:
D G Em7
they got one leaving today ha
D G Em7
they got one leaving today ha
D G Em7
they got one leaving today ha X 2
G F#
and it's going away

(there’s a transition of a few measures)

SOLO/OUTRO (1:45)
About 13 measures, a lot like the ends of the choruses for a while

Below is a first guess at progression in outro
(Bm F#7) x3
(Bm E) x2
Bm G
Bm (longer)

Another possible chorus prog
Bm E F#
Bm E F#
Bm E F#
G D
x3
Bm F#7

December

There were two things that I intended to accomplish in December 2011.

The first was to not drink alcohol. Unless something really unexpected happens in the next 40 hours, I think I will manage to accomplish that. It seems like a small thing...to not drink for an entire calendar month...but it is a small thing that I don't think I've accomplished since...well probably at least since 2000 and probably more like since 1997 or 1998. It gets easier and harder every day and it probably will for a while yet until it just isn't as big a deal anymore. At least that's where I'm hoping things are headed.

The second thing I meant to do I did not accomplish...though I made a decent start and I should probably not be too hard on myself...give my self some credit...for making that good start. The goal was to multi-track record...all by myself playing all the parts...covers of about 15 Breeders songs. I first mentioned it here on October 21st, though I'd been thinking about doing it for a while before that. I don't really remember when the idea first hit me. Somewhere between being pissed at one of our early CJ shows probably in 2010 when someone said I should start a Breeders tribute ("dumb ass" I thought..."I can't play guitar or sing well enough like Kim Deal to pull that off...and I don't even think that I like their music") and when bought and started listening to the records likely in early to mid 2011. Though it is true that I DID suggest covering "Cannonball" to the grunge band back in late summer 2010...so my brain was starting to turn anyway.

I've recorded full tribute albums twice before, so I knew that I could do it. Usually this involves me learning a couple of songs over a long period of time...and then deciding to do it. After that it is a month or two of relatively concentrated effort to learn all of the parts to all of the songs (sometimes only moments before recording them) and then laying down tracks. And then all the bullshit with getting the tracks together right. This last step I've never been good at. As per the cult of done...there is no editing stage. I never said that I did things well...I just said that I get them done.

So I've been sort of absent-mindedly learning the parts to the songs since October or so I guess. A real sticking point was fear of my equipment. I have a Boss 1180cd multi-tracker. It has served me well. But it has always been a bit of a black box that I feared. At some point a few years ago an effect got stuck on that I couldn't turn off, rendering it useless. This fall I finally figured out how to turn it off...making the Breeders project possible. But I was still afraid of the thing. And it is just old enough of technology that it is hard of hard to use. Very user friendly for its time...now it is...well a black box. And the only way to get the data out is via burning to the internal cd (which takes forever and adds an unneccessary step) or to record to an external device via RCA connections (I don't have an external device to record to...and this still doesn't convert the files to something my computer can use and, say, post on the internet. But last night everything changed.

Yesterday, for some unknown reason, I started wondering if I could use the free software program Audacity to multitrack. This had never occurred to me before. I've only ever used the program to edit mp3s that I've recorded...to chop up a full concert performance into individual songs...or to cut off the noise at the start and end of a track. I mostly use it to clean up rehearsal recordings that I make with my $100 Zoom H1 Handy Recorder so I can email the files to the band or practice along with them on my laptop. But I thought to google "multitracking with Audacity" yesterday at work (work has been slow over the holidays) and *boom* the world opened up.

Still not believing it could be so cheap and easy (I've been debating buying a microphone/laptop interface and software for years) I went home last night and tried it out with "Do You Love Me Now"...a recent addition to the planned track list. I recorded rhythm guitar, vocal, and lead guitar separately with my Zoom and imported the mp3s each into Audacity. They come in as stereo tracks...but you can split them and delete one side. Then...line them up...clean up the noise...export as WAV or mp3...and you get a finished stereo file out the other end. I had a song done in less than an hour (though it was a scratch track totally and will have to be redone). I recorded the rhythm and the lead guitar on both electric with distortion through my GK Backline 115 bass amp and with an acoustic direct to air. I still have to work on how to keep the level of the recorded track high enough without clipping the mic...but it is an easy enough adjustment to make. Today I'm gonna goof with the test song more and see about adding effects and such. Last night I was able to remove the background noise and delete coughs and such...already way more than I was ever able to figure out with the Boss.

I know that people (including Kim Deal) bemoan the rise of Protools (Audacity is essentially a cheap version of the same kind of software). It makes it too easy to create an artificial performance and it allows people with no talent and no business recording music to do it. But I think it is pretty awesome. I'm not trying to make great art...I'm just a plumber with a keyboard.* I'm just passing time on earth and trying to amuse myself. For years I couldn't find bands to play with...and so I played music alone. Multi-tracking allowed me to be my own band. And that's better than getting drunk alone any day of the week. I bet even Kim Deal could agree with that.

*Footnote: The plumber with a keyboard. I had a music teacher in college, Michael Iautaro. He was a composer. In addition to playing cello in the school orchestra under him for four years, I took pretty much any music classes he offered. Theory...recording...a few other things I think. One day he went off on how the world was coming to an end because "now adays" even a plumber could make music in his basement with a keyboard. He thought this tragic...that no talent hacks would muddy up his precious performance and composition world. This really pissed me off...and in a subsequent paper I debated the fact with him. In the grading comments he wrote "Give you a soapbox and you take it home!" I've always remembered that. Mike's dead now. Cancer I think. I didn't always agree with him and I can't say that I'm aware of him having a HUGE influence on me as a musician...but none the less...here I am a plumber with a keyboard. And that's the most important thing in my life.

Song of the Year

I believe that the song of the year for 2012 will be *drum roll*...Heart Beat Faster by Anna Vogelzang

(listen to it here)

Lyrics:

Some background...I thought I had reposted this somewhere safe, but it only seems to live on a long dead website...so reposting here...

Since I was 14 years old I've had a New Year's tradition of picking a song to represent the coming year. Sometimes it is a pessimistic song...sometimes it is an optimistic song. Sometimes I am not even sure why I pick the song...but they almost always end up...one year later...to have been an excellent representation of the previous year.

The song is supposed to be the first song that I hear in the New Year (and the previous year's song is supposed to be the last song that I hear in the previous year). Of course, logistically this is not always possible, but usually it is.

Why do I do this? Who knows! But no sense in ruining a perfectly good tradition...

1985 Kids from Fame I Still Believe in Me
1986 Go West Don't Look Down
1987 Outfield Taking My Chances
1988 Police King of Pain
1989 U2 Where the Streets Have No Name
1990 Erasure Hideaway
1991 Aztec Camera Stray
1992 Erasure Home
1993 Kirt Kempter Standing on this Bridge
1994 John Wesley Harding End of Something
1995 Poi Dog Pondering Postcard from a Dream
1996 Indigo Girls Watershed
1997 Poi Dog Pondering Complicated
1998 Michelle Shocked The Hard Way
1999 Ani DiFranco Fuel
2000 The Nields Giving it Back to Susan
2001 Barenaked Ladies Falling for the First Time
2002 The Nields This Town is Wrong
2003 Fleetwood Mac Landslide
2004 Barenaked Ladies Go Home
2005 Barenaked Ladies For You
2006
2007 The Motor Primitives Favorite Dream
2008
2009 Barenaked Ladies Testing 1, 2, 3
2010 Barenaked Ladies Maybe You're Right
2011 The Breeders One Divine Hammer
2012 Anna Vogelzang Heart Beat Faster