MUSIKA

Hello Blogateers - long time no post!  Just thought I jot down some quick notes on the start of a new music project. 

I met up with songwriter Stuart in the summer and I liked what he was doing even if was a bit outside my usual box.  I elected to play bass on this project thinking that was what was needed to take things forward. But I had a lot on, holiday and domestically wise, so we agreed to meet up in the autumn to commence work on a project to record a set of Stuart's songs and possibly gig it.  The initial session in September confirmed my view the material was good and I found I was quite enjoying playing bass again after a few decades on guitar.  First we set about documenting the arrangements and then I produced a test demo showing the potential but with me drumming and playing the solo parts on Mellotron and guitar:

Unashamed - Rough Demo

Although we talked about playing and gigging it as a duo,  it was clear percussion would be the best initial addition so I asked local drummer Ian if he would be up for drumming on the project.  He came along to try out and we were pleased to sign him up for the band:  now named MUSIKA.  After a few Monday night practice sessions we are starting to gel and are currently about halfway through learning the set.  Here's a snapshot of one under construction!

MUSIKA - I Dont Know - try out

We are going to add some vocal arrangements and try to get the band working as a three piece.  But we do remain open to the idea of a 4th member to add another voice and instrumentation:  ideally a multi instrumentalist playing at least a couple of these:  violin, sax,  flute and keys. 

Hopefully we'll reach our target of set completion by Christmas - but there is no time pressure at the mo' so we can try and build quality rather than quantity!

Raye Duval

Old friend,  drummer and bandleader Raye Duval passed away on 4th July 2017;  closing a big chapter in my life as a member of  "The Checkmates".

I put together this little video tribute to Raye of our last performance at the Borderline Soho in 2015.  The last couple of song clips are poignant given he passed away early in the morning.  No doubt he is starting to rock in that great gig in the sky with all the other rock and roll legends who made it there before him - cheers Raye and many thanks for the opportunity!

Raye at the Borderline

Passing Along The Horizon

A long time since the last post, I've been kept busy with grandsons and non-music activities! 

But I have been tinkering along with the demo below for a few weeks now. I must admit to using preset midi drum parts for most of the rhythm on this one,  but I played and sang the rest myself.  I'm happy with the arrangement and backing and just need to re-do the ragged vocals - but that will take a while so in case you blogateers can't wait here is the first demo of "Passing Along The Horizon"!

Passing Along Horizon

Not a song about love but it fits into the tale of the Garon's Daughter somewhere!

Dan's Les Paul

Last time Dan was over in UK he left his Les Paul with me on long term loan.  I offered to refurb it and then promptly left it for several months until I had a quiet day. 

I had already identified it as a mid 1970's version made in Gibson's Nashville plant.  The late 60's through to the late 70's were the heyday of the Les Paul, particularly in blues and rock and this guitar was typical of those times being very heavy,  having a very high output with bags of sustain and a fast low action: ideal for lengthy blues solos with lots of notes in!  It's in pretty good condition with only a few dings in the body,  but it crackled quite a lot when I plugged it in.  So I sprayed the electrics with 'Funk Out',  changed the strings,  adjusted the pickups and bridge to get a more even sound across the strings, cleaned the body and lemon oiled the fingerboard.  It felt and smelt good!

Plugging it in I noticed that thinner jack plugs made a poor connection the guitar's jack socket.  I would have adjusted the jack socket contacts but it's sealed up in a tin can to minimise hum,  so I settled for more 'funk out' and used a 'Planet Waves' lead with expanding contacts on the plug.  It was time to test it.

First test was on the neck pick up playing a shadows number - not a guitar I would normally pick for this job with its beefy humbucker sound,  but I thought it sounded quite good in this demo.

Gibson WondLand

Next up I tried the bridge pick up on a 60's song - the compressed Les Paul sound quite suited this I thought.

Gibson YouNoGood

In conclusion I must say I was quite pleased with the playability and sustain,  The sound is OK but I still prefer a single coil over a humbucker for clean sounds.   But I soon became weary of toting this guitar's weight -  alright when you are a muscular young rock god,  but very wearing for an old, easy listening player such as myself! 

Circular Peter Revisited

I have always been a big fan of the Mellotron and was about to buy one in the mid 70's when the first string synthesizers were invented -  at the time I settled for an Elka Rhapsody rather than a Mellotron:  good decision in view of the cost and unreliability of the Mellotron then.  Cue 40 odd years later and the solid state Melly is much more affordable!   So I have fulfilled a long held ambition and taken delivery of a Mellotron rack since the last blog.

That's an old MicroKorg keyboard on top that I picked up second hand to drive it.

Sitting quietly nursing a return to health after my latest sniffy cold gift from grandsons,  I resolved to re-visit the first demo of Circular Peter and try out the new Mellotron on it.  I wasn't in any shape to re-record any vocals or instrument tracks so the only thing new would be to add Mellotron strings and bells and then remix.  I re-arranged to shorten the song and conceived a Mellotronic doorbell sound to open proceedings followed by an acoustic verse before the band came in.  I made changes in the original demo clips and tracks in Cakewalk Sonar to arrive at the new arrangement.  If you listen carefully you can hear the "join" here and there as I cut and pasted the original recording around.  But overall I thought it was fit for demo purpose!

Then I recorded the Mellotron strings and bell parts and set about the remix.  The remix was very difficult.  I tried stereo this time but the original recordings are sufficiently flawed to make it all a frustrating compromise.  I had to remind myself that 'one day' I would attempt to record it for real (probably) using hired in musos.  But,  in the end,  I settled for the remix at the following link.

circular-peter-final-stereo-demo

Conclusion:  The Mellotron certainly cuts through the mix - I bet it would be great in a live context,  just need to find or put together a band sympathetic to the moody Melly sound.  Time to move onto the next song in the project I think!