sketchandjam

Now that I have to go back into the office for work again I'm stuck with a commute. So to pass the time I bought an Akai MPK mini portable midi controller and have been using it to create little drum loops and lead phrases on the train. These are my first week of tests where I'm mainly exploring the different sound libraries that come with MPC 2 and playing around with effects and different features. Eventually I want to start using the drum midi for my workstation at home where I can remap it to better sound libraries like superior drummer and better synths like rapture to use it in more structured songs. For now this setup allows me to not waste time commuting and opens up some new creativity for composing drums and songs before and after work.

Here's a jam that started out on my UDU drum. I decided to build up the tracks to include my goatskin tar drum as well as some shakers. The beat is a bit tricky so I had to just record this one without a metronome. Once the drums were in place I added my Takamine classical guitar. Towards the middle of the song I bring in the stratocaster plus for #straturday. Later on I also add some jaw harp in the background to add some drone noises. That's all for now, thanks for listening and happy #straturday :-)

Looks like it is another #straturday. This time I decided to use my hijaz tuned handpan as the backing track for the stratocaster improvisation. After recording the main handpan track I added a couple more handpans with a deep reverb as well as one with a staggered stereo effect on it for percussion. For the guitars I use my stratocaster plus with a tricky reverse delay effect on it, it was a bit tricky to judge where to put the notes on this effect as it plays your notes backwards as you play lol. The next stratocaster is my partsocaster with some interesting reverb and delay on it with a slight ping pong effect on it. The last guitar is my G&L comanche with some crazy ambient effects and envelope filters on it. I call this one a knock at the door because I replaced one of the drums with a plank sound that sort of resembles someone knocking at the door. Thanks for listening and happy #straturday :-)

Here is the start of a new backing track on my Hiren Roy sitar. I had to tune all 21 strings recently so this was just a quick test to see if everything was in tune and I made up this riff and it started sounding good enough for a backing track. After playing the riff to a 6/8 metronome I added the drums to match the sitar parts. I also wanted to test out some different effects on a direct signal from the pickups I put on the sitar. I tried out three different ambient effects chains throughout this test. Eventually I'll mix this into something that can be improvised over perhaps on my stratocaster or one of my other guitars. That's all for now, thanks for listening :-) #sitar

This is a remix of my previous Points of Light jam on the Egyptian oud for this #straturday. I changed out the drums and tried different effects on the oud and jaw harp to better allow for some improvisation on my stratocaster and comanche. I reduced the oud to the rhythmic parts of then tried some trippy effects on the stratocaster. Towards the end I also bring in the G&L Comanche with a little different effects chain on it and improvisation style. That's all for now, thanks for listening and happy #straturday

Here's a work in process on my Egyptian oud. I may slice up some of the oud improvised parts as a background rhythm to use with an electric guitar. For drums I used a mixture of the dream pop drumset in ez drummer with a custom drum set to get the F drone on the kick drum to harmonize with the oud. I also have a jaw harp track in the background with some octave effects on it to create a deeper drone sound in the background. I can hear a cool overdriven delayon electric guitar going well with the oud, perhaps for this #straturday or next. That's all for now, thanks for listening :-)

Here's a little surf rock style jam for this #straturday. I decided to use a few of my electric guitars one for each track. In order of appearance they are my John Petrucci Musicman 7, home made partsocaster, Paul Reed Smith Hollowbody I, Gibson Les Paul, G&L AT, Fender Stratocaster Plus, G&L Comanche, G&L Fallout and my G&L AT Tribute. For guitar effects I used Bias FX 2 and Guitar Rig 6. Drums are via EZdrummer using a 60s vintage drum EZX. Thanks for listening :-) happy #straturday

Here is my pet Phiddipus audax I kept over the winter that is now ready to be set free. It finally got warm enough outside for her to safely setup shop outside again. She will now be the defender of my balcony garden plants and hopefully get fat off aphids and flies. Before letting her go I took her for a walk in front of the camera. She was a good sport for the most part as she is used to being handled, she only jumped on the camera lens a few times and held still for long enough to get the autofocus on her. I made a little #straturday song to go along with the video to match the fast tempo of her movements. It has electronic drums from Toontrack's EZ drummer and strange ambient guitar riffing to match her personality as a jumping spider. I'll be keeping an eye out for her as I take care of the plants and hopefully she can make a return in a future video. Thanks for watching :-) #straturday #jumpingspider

Here's a jam on my Takamine classical guitar with some lead on my home-made partsocaster. Drums are via the ez drummer big rock EZX. I also added a second acoustic guitar track with tons of effects on it via guitar rig 6 to add to the classical guitar parts. The lead guitar's effects are via bias fx 2 with an interesting stereo reverb that combines two types of plate reverb. The overall tone kind of reminds me of early Spanish explorers finding the seven cities of gold in the New Mexico territory in the 16th century. Thanks for listening :-)

Here is a little jam that started out with an improvisation on my idiopan. I recorded the idiopan both clean with my zoom microphone as well as direct via the pickup. The direct recording has effects added onto it via Guitar Rig to produce some subtle ambience. Later I added a country western drum kit via EZ drummer called rude rodgers. After that I did some clean riffs on my stratocaster and came up with some different effects loops for each track in Bias FX 2. The ambient chimey sound of this improvisation reminded me of crystals and the cool crystal caves of Naica mine in Mexico. Thanks for listening and happy #straturday :-)

Here is a little surf improvisation on my G&L ASAT for this #teletuesday where I was testing out my Catalinbread Topanga Burnside pedal. The Topanga Burnside has a tank style reverb perfect for surf style music. It also has some interesting tremelo effects in it if you crank the mix knob high enough. For this composition I recorded separate guitar clips with different settings on the burnside for each clip. To keep track of each clip I shined a different color LED light on my G&L ASAT, the white sparkle color seems to pick up the LED light colors well in almost a glow in the dark fashion. For drums I used EZ Drummer with a classic rock kit with some compression to emulate 60s style drums. Overall this pedal is pretty versatile especially for surf music. Thanks for listening :-) and happy #teletuesday

Here is an improvisation on my Weber Bandit Resonator tuned to dadgde. I just played whatever came to mind to a 120 bpm metronome then added drums later on. The drums are based off a 70s era kit by Toontrack using EZdrummer. I also put some dirt and distortion effects on the drums to make them sound a bit more gritty via the EZmix plugin by Toontrack. Whenever I record on the resonator I use my zoom recorder to get acoustic audio and I also record a direct pickup line into my DAW to add subtle effects onto that track. In this case I made the direct recorded track very ambient and dark to add some bass resonance in the background to offset the twang of the resonator a bit . I named this one Sand In My Boot because it has a bit of country twang to it with a gritty distorted drum track. I can see this one turning into a good post rock style song as well if I were to record some of the riffs on my electric guitars and bass. That's all for now, thanks for listening :-)

Here's a progressive hard rock style improvisation on my G&L Fallout and Comanche. The fallout's Seymore Duncan bridge humbucker pickup is great for drop d tuning and heavy chunk rhythm. The fallout's z3 coils are good for higher clean lead tones. For drums I used the progressive ezx in EZ Drummer with the tubby lubby setting and some compression and widening effects on it. The guitar effects were done in Bias FX2 with a subtle ambient track on the Comanche using Guitar Rig 6. I would have posted this for #straturday but missed the deadline by a day. Thanks for listening :-) #originalmusic

Here is a #straturday improvisation on my G&L Comanche, not quite a true stratocaster but close enough. The G&L Comanche was designed by Leo Fender as a later iteration of the stratocaster with many upgraded features. This improvisation sort of has a neu rock kind of vibe with some fast paced drums to accompany the bouncing delay and fuzz distortion. The drums are via EZ drummer using the post rock EZX. For the guitar effects I used the Jimi Hendrix expansion amps in Bias FX2 with a bit of tweaking to the effects chain to give it a brighter more driven tone. Mastering was done in Adobe Audition to widen out the mix a bit more. Thanks for listening :-)

Here is an improvisation on my PRS hollowbody I where I played whatever came to mind to a basic 4/4 130 bpm metronome. Once I got the guitar tone right in Bias FX 2 I added drums via EZ drummer using the Big Rock EZX with a bit of reverb and compression on it. I tweaked the final mix a bit in Adobe Audition to widen out the drums a bit. The moody riff reminds me of FUD being spread around so someone can grift the price of some sort of financial asset while they stack it in the background. Thanks for listening :-) #rock #postrock

Here's a random jam on Michigan-made Wechter Pathfinder acoustic guitar. I improvised to a 2/4 200 bpm metronome then added the drums in later via EZdrummer. The drum kit I used was the Country ezx with a bit of a delay and distortion on it. The funny sounding riff and beat kind of remind me of when you rub your feet on carpet then collect free electrons to shock someone with static electricity. Then of course they do the same and start shocking you back. Thanks for listening :-)

Here is an improvisation on my Taylor 12 string jumbo acoustic guitar. I played whatever came to mind on a fast 2/4 timed metronome. Later I programmed the drums in EZ Drummer using the 60s EZX. The upbeat and slightly wonky tune reminds me of having to adjust your clocks in the spring and fall causing you to wake up at the wrong time when the switch happens. Thanks for listening :-)

Here is an improvisation on my fancy Gibson Les Paul for this #gibsunday I played whatever came to mind to a standard 120 bpm. Once I managed to get a good take without too many mistakes I started slicing up the audio and applying different effects in Bias FX 2. For drums I used the Progressive EZX from Toontrack. If you play to a metronome it is easy to program midi drums to track with your guitar improvisation. You can sort of tap in the mood of each guitar part via a midi controller in loops, I use a Roland Handsonic as my midi controller in Cakewalk. After exporting the mixdown from Cakewalk I used Adobe Audition to add a touch of dynamic control, eq and mastering to even out the mix. That's all for now thanks for listening :-)

Here is a gamelan performance I filmed at an Asian culture festival at my local arboretum. Gamelan has quite a unique sound and the instruments are quite interesting. The main instruments include gongs, metallophones, xylophones and a large kendang bass drum. This style of music originates from Indonesia and is quite intricate and rhythmic with many half notes and tempo changes within each song.

Here is another jam on my uncle's dusty old guitar tuned to DADGDE. I added some drums via my Roland Handsonic later on in Cakewalk. This one has a sort of Spanish feel to it and I imagine a scene from an old 1600's era presidio somewhere in the Caribbean. Thanks for listening :-)

Here is a jam on my uncle's dusty dried out acoustic guitar. I set up the action as best possible then tuned it to DADGDE and played whatever came to mind. Later I added some drums via my Roland Handsonic as well as an ambient lead on some finger bells. This improvisation kind of reminds me of the soundtrack to a wild kangaroo rat hopping around in the desert nights dodging rattle snakes and looking food. Thanks for listening :-)

Each year hundreds if not thousands of sandhill cranes go to Willcox Arizona to escape the northern winter. These shallow pools of water are kind of brackish and even have brine shrimp in them. I suspect the cranes just use the shallow lakes for water then go off elsewhere in the Willcox basin to find food like small rodents or insects. Soon all these guys will be flying back up north the Illinois to breed during the summer. They sure do make quite a noise when so many are gathered in one place.

Here is a little cutaway dreadnought acoustic guitar jam called Bucked off the Horse. I had a little extra free time on my vacation in Arizona and decided to do a western style jam on my uncle's old dusty guitar that I found in a storage room. It took a while to oil down the strings and get the action fixed but eventually it started soundsing good even though its action was a bit high. I'm surprised the desert dryness didn't warp the whole guitar. Thanks for listening :-)

Here is a compilation that shows the hunting behavior of the great blue heron with four good catches and a couple misses. There are plenty of bluegill in this lake for the herons to feed on, most of the larger fish in the lake are probably too big for the herons to catch. The soundtrack is an original improvisation on my banjo and 12 string guitar. Thanks for watching :-)

Here is a grass spider in action attempting to secure a Japanese beetle that has fallen in its web. At first the spider seemed to have control of the situation but the armor of the beetle was too thick and it managed to arm-bar the spider and scare it back into its funnel web. The only thing that is able to eat these Japanese beetles are bluegills in the lake, they love feasting on them. Grass spiders are a bit too delicate to take anything armored like a beetle for food. #spider