I don't have a good voice. I sing all the time, but only when no one's around to hear me. But today I thought, screw it, I know all the words and chords to hundreds of songs and I'm going to sing one on youtube. Went a bit nuts and uploaded half a dozen. I think these two came out the best. I know my voice is very weedy but I'm mostly in tune I reckon.
Well you can hold a tune which is more than I can do, so no issues there. And you're pretty good with a guitar BUT YOU KNEW THAT. Tuned down a half step there (wondering about the capo(just realised it may be due to your voice too, maybe))?
I can never remember chords or lyrics so all I seem to do these days is learn a single song that I enjoy via tab (My God is the Sun at the moment) and play that amongst just fingerpicking over various chord shapes, making up stuff I like the sound of and then forgetting it. Also been trying to get to grips with some Nick Drake in standard, but my rhythm is so damn bad.
Thanks for the kind words. I have a vocal range of less than an octave (seriously) so I always have to fiddle around with different keys and/or capo positions to fit my voice. There are some songs that I just can't do because they contain notes that are too high and notes that are too low for me. The fact that I'm capo'd on the first for both of those songs is coincidental, I'm just as often on the second, third or forth, and occasionally the fifth or higher.
I make up stuff and forget it like you do, and like randomly messing around with finger picking too. Don't beat yourself up over finding Nick Drake hard to get to grips with - I've had many a struggle with quite a few of his guitar parts, often ending in defeat. I thought I had 'Been Smoking too Long' licked a while ago, but then realised I was playing a very unsatisfactory approximation of what he does on the record and I've now pretty much given up on it. It sounds pretty simple but the rhythm is bloody hard. The only Nick Drake song I can really play is 'Fly.'
Hard question to answer that. I've had a guitar for about 5/6 years, but it has always been really casual. I took lessons for about six months around three years in (so roughly three years ago now) but had to stop due to moving house and stuff.
I've documented my intentions to totally sit down and learn on here numerous times, but I'm always too busy to really focus. I really want to do that come Uni, so there's hope yet, but you'd never know i've had one of the bloody things for half a decade.
Well, that all sounds pretty similar to my relationship with guitar playing. There's been times when I've played every day and really strove to improve, times when I've just casually noodled around here and there and played the same old stuff over and over again, and gaps where I've not picked it up much at all for months at a time. I might seem pretty comfortable with it as an instrument now, but I have been playing for the better part of twenty years. I could be a real virtuoso if I'd put in a serious amount of time every day, but as it stands I can just do a few things that I'm quite proud of, like play Pancho & Lefty (pretty much) note perfect.
So don't worry about it mate. You obviously have to the drive to learn and improve, and you'll put the time in where you can spare it, just like I did. And one day you'll be happy with how you play. Just my two cents anyway.
Hmm, that's a bit tricky. I could do some Pixies or a bit of Sonic Youth... no, fuck it, I'm going find my distortion pedal and to do a Swans song. Give me till this time next week.
I wasn't going to post this, but another very kind comment from Jacuzzi_Jackson, comparing it to Broken Social Scene (aw, shucks!) has made to share it with ya'll. Jacuzzi, that means a lot from you because I've been listening to your soundcloud stuff a lot recently and love your sound - or rather sounds as no two tunes sound the same. Musicianship, vocals, lyrics, all awesome. I love you artist name and the whole 'spiral' concept too. Your recordings sound very professional - do you record at home or in a studio?
I recorded the guitars for this years ago, but more recently hit on the idea of using something from the Library of Congress recordings (Lomax, 1940 in this case) to give it a focus.
Hey thanks metascrawl. We record at our practice room and at my house in a spare room that's been converted to a rudimentary studio. It's all DIY, glad you like the production. I'm enjoying your tunes, keep em coming.
My old G5 died on me today but that's not a particularly rare occurrence. But I've had to reinstall the operating system from scratch and will once again have to reinstall protools and all the plugins. digging out all the eighteen digit authorization codes yet again. What a bloody hassle. I should just get Reason (as Yoss keeps suggesting) plus some some kind if interface for my more powerful and stable windows laptop that go through this ordeal every few months. I sure can't afford a new mac.
Anyway, at least it happened just after I'd finished and uploaded a track rather than being halfway through one. While I get everything sorted out I'll be taking to the youtubes with my guitar and my newly fixed banjo.
1. Tim Xavier & Dustin Zahn - Speeding Through The Universe (Dustin Zahn Monolith remix). Enemy.
2. DJ Sodeyama - Mongoya (The Automatic Message remix). From 01.
3. Reeko - Miracle. Pole Group.
4. Ben Sims feat Tyree - I Feel It Deep (Silent Servant remix) Drumcode.
5. Marcel Dettmann - Translation 2. Ostgut Ton
6. Martyn - We Are You In The Future (Redshape remix). Brainfeeder
7. Tessela - Hackney Parrot. Poly Kicks
1. Tim Xavier & Dustin Zahn - Speeding Through The Universe (Dustin Zahn Monolith remix). Enemy.
2. DJ Sodeyama - Mongoya (The Automatic Message remix). From 01.
3. Reeko - Miracle. Pole Group.
4. Ben Sims feat Tyree - I Feel It Deep (Silent Servant remix) Drumcode.
6. Phase - Behind The Sun. Token.
7. Len Faki - BTX1. Ostgut Ton.
9. Aux 88 - Astral Projections (Detroit mix). Puzzle box.
10. Par Grindvik - Folium. Stockholm LTD.
11. Reeko. Indonesian's Dream. Pole Group.
12. Martyn - We Are You In The Future (Redshape remix). Brainfeeder
13. Ramadan Man - I Beg You. Hessle Audio
14. Ramadan Man - Glut. Hemlock.
15. Tessela - Hackney Parrot. Poly Kicks.
16. Bicep - You. Aus.
Both are Techno and Bass or Dubstep or whatever.
Ross Kemp Investigative Journalist Skullfuck yourself into a fine mist
Well, I don't have anything really, apart from a Vestax Spin which is a bit shit really. I started quite a few years ago but never really put much time in, been going to a mates house and recording some mixes recently. They actually came out pretty well but there is always one or two fuck-ups from me. Need to get better.
Hahaha you say that, but the first 3 mixes of mine on Soundcloud, I was high as a kite. The last one which we did last night I was the PERFECT level of high, but managed to fuck up my second track and also cut out a bit early on another when I could have probably let it run a bit. The rest of it I'm pretty pleased with though.
All I can say is there's a definite difference in myself with and without and as daft and Cheech and Chong as it sounds it's like if you're straight you hear the tracks, but with a smoke you *actually* hear them and can feel the flow as you put them together. If that makes sense.
Ross Kemp Investigative Journalist Skullfuck yourself into a fine mist
Perfect sense, I feel a lot more tuned in when I'm high. I've got to find a balance though, too high and I'm just shit, but there was a point yesterday when I sparked up and I was adjusting the track as it was coming in while tapping the ash off, then took a puff, left it in my mouth and changed the levels and adjusted the track that I switched from. It was a special moment for me. Perfect level of high.
No worries, he's gotten into weed late in his life and started taking DMT and LSD, the podcasts I've watched are basically open minded discussions about exploring other areas of consciousness and self-examination as well as systems of governance among other things. It's very interesting to hear someone say what you've thought yourself, but were afraid to say out loud. I've always felt you could tell if someone took acid, as they're generally more thoughtful and considerate. I'd ignore a lot of the MMA ones unless you're into that. The one with Freeway Ricky Ross is brilliant.
Ross Kemp Investigative Journalist Skullfuck yourself into a fine mist
I find weed markedly improves my guitar playing, in terms of subtlety of timing and nuance, as well as my ability to improvise and write on the fly. Also, if I do smoke which is very rare these days, playing guitar or banjo is essential at least for the first hour or so, because if I'm not playing music I'm feeling anxious and paranoid.
Finally getting around to posting these. They're just these scrappy little chop-up edits of random pop tracks I make sometimes when I'm bored. Then I've done a similar thing with some videos for a few of them. Have a couple more knocking about I should upload while i think about it...