Living Colour’s Vernon Reid Pays Monsieur Obscure a high Twitter compliment...

Tue, 20 Apr 2010 23:13:18 -0700

Back when Monsieur Obscure first created his Twitter account almost a year ago, one of the first people he started following was progressive-funk-rock pioneer Living Colour’s phenomenal guitarist, Vernon Reid. Within 24 hours, Vernon had reciprocated the follow and direct messaged the good Monsieur the following:

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Vernon Reid ( @vurnt22 )

Best. Twitter. Name. EVER.

12:39 AM Jun 6th, 2009

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Then about a week ago, after Monsieur Obscure had made a general Twitter inquiry as to whether guitarist David Torn was anywhere to be found on Twitter, a user representing a music publication querried: ‘@MonsieurObscure ????’ The exact motives behind this post are still unclear, but almost randomly and nearly instantly, Vernon Reid chimed in to reassert his initial message:

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Vernon Reid ( @vurnt22 )

@MonsieurObscure ? Best Tweeter name EVER!.!.!

6:27 AM Apr 11th via web in reply to MonsieurObscure

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

When all is said and done, these are the simple pleasures in life. The little things that just make you smile...
Thanks again, Vernon. You Rock!!!...

* NOTE: Now to give credit where credit is due: The name was in fact bestowed upon the young guitarist years ago by drummer and fellow purveyer of Hamsquint, David Roda. Once he had discerned the obscure essence of the young man through prolonged exposure, he christened him Monsieur Obscure...

New music added to the Obscure Archives...

Sat, 3 Apr 2010 14:15:25 -0700

In addition to the Spirit and the Bride song ‘Golden Calf’ joining the ranks of the Obscure Archives a couple of weeks ago, another tune was also added at that time: Penetralia’s ‘Migration of Gypsies’. This tune is of the inherently spontaneous character that marks all of Penetralia’s output.

Now, two new Penetralia tunes have been added: ‘Psychedelicacy’ and ‘The Second Night’. Both are improvisational in nature and are each described in modest detail in their respective places.

Enjoy!...

The making of a new Spirit and the Bride song in detail

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:03:07 -0700

Well guys and gals, here’s a fairly recent article written by my good friend and band mate, Will Shanks. He’s our bass player and primary songwriter and for his day job works at Universal Audio as Product Manager (with a special focus on plugins). In recent times he moved his lovely studio, Ear to the Ground (http://eartotheground.com), from the Santa Cruz Mountains to the somewhat less remote mountain location of UA’s Scotts Valley, CA complex. This is the latest article in his "Analog Obsession: 100% UA" series. This one deals with a song from our band Spirit and the Bride, and is one of the nearly completed tracks from our upcoming sophomore CD release (The previous installments are archived and can be found on the site, and could prove good reading for anyone interested in the recording process, gear, etc.). You can listen to the most recent mix of the song here, as well as checking out the mix mastered especially for this article using the media player found nestled at the beginning of the article in its native habitat here: http://www.uaudio.com/webzine/2009/march/analog.html. The individual tracks, if one wants to dig in that deeply, can be downloaded using the the link at the end of the article.
If anyone is interested, our entire self-entitled first CD can be heard at Last.fm (http://www.last.fm/music/Spirit+and+the+Bride/Spirit+and+the+Bride). We welcome and would love to hear your respected and refined opinions and feedback on any of our material. Our music, though in my mind hard to define, could possibly be simply described as ambient-ethnic-alt-rock (as some may already be aware, our female vocalist, Mariana, is of Croatian descent and sings a few of our songs in her native tongue, while all of the band’s members love various ethnic folk musics and ambient textures, etc)...

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

100% UA, Part 10, With Spirit and the Bride
By Will Shanks and Michael Romanowski

My beautiful son arrived into the world last March--so naturally, I did less studio work with clients in 2008. However, this gave me the chance to work again with fellow musicians and friends. This installment of "100% UA" features Spirit and the Bride, which is a collaborative music project that will ultimately result in our second full-length recording. It has been exciting and invigorating to work on my own music again after such a long time, and the process has been a respite from my new job as father. This project has centered much more around “bedroom recording,” simply due to the need to be at home! As always, UA hardware and software was widely used, and contributed to the overall sonic impact of this recording.

Origins

The song is entitled “Golden Calf,” and it began with a drum loop played by David Roda. It was lifted from a Spirit and the Bride rehearsal/jam recorded 12 years earlier. Christopher Pajak (aka Monsieur Obscure) extracted the energetic hi-hat and tom pattern, which was originally recorded on 4-track cassette, and sent it to the band via email. I was inspired by the two-bar loop and dropped it into Digital Performer. I first added a kick drum part created from a large 14” Roto-Tom (also played by David Roda).
I began improvising bass parts over the loop with my trusty Klira, an early '60s Hofner knock-off. I then incorporated a harmonically dissonant organ part created form Native Instruments B4. The results were interesting, but I got a mild response from the rest of the band. There wasn’t enough to the picture yet. I hastily wrote some lyrics and had Paul Nauman take a crack at a vocal. We were both displeased with the results, and it never left the bedroom!
Christopher flew out from Arizona to work on guitar parts. This song was certainly not a focus for the weekend dates, but we miked up the amp and Christopher quickly improvised some eBow parts over the existing tracks with his Stratocaster. To be honest, I barely paid attention during the recording, as I had already subconsciously “let it go.” The song languished for a few months without even a listen. On a whim, late one night I opened the session and began listening to the eBow parts, and quickly realized there might be some magic. I compiled together the best pieces from the four or five passes, scrapped the vocal and did some minor restructuring to the existing arrangement. The response to the track was much more enthusiastic, and I of course was pleased with it as well. In the haphazard way of writing a song in your DAW and only one track at a time, it seems you never know which new element will suddenly make a recording special.
I once again commissioned Paul to create a vocal, but this time encouraged him to bring his own ideas to the table. I simultaneously worked on my own vocal and lyrics, with the unstated idea of having a vocal layering effect as the ultimate goal. Paul provided a melody and some adapted lyrics, taken from the German poet Rainer Rilke, and recorded them on his own with his laptop and Snowball USB mic. He also created an octave version of his vocal electronically within Garage Band. Simultaneously, I had recorded my melody and lyric as a scratch vocal (which would later be replaced by Mariana Nenadic’s much more interesting and capable voice). Once the elements were combined, the magic was there. The layering idea worked and the song now had the momentum it needed to approach completion. Paul later came to my place and re-recorded another version of the primary vocal part and a harmony part. Christopher came back not long after and added the additional “chimey” guitar part and some additional eBow parts. We then added a few other minor adornments such as the hi-hat part contributed by David Roda and the 808 parts. I delivered the track to Michael Romanowski (http://www.1340mission.com) for CD mastering via his FTP site. Michael was constrained to use only UA tools for this project.

The trusty Klira, strung with flatwounds

Recording

Golden Loop
Originally from a rehearsal/jam and recorded on 4-track cassette. Played in 10/8, then later compiled into a 16 beat measure that actually feels like 2 bars of 3/4 and 2 bars of 5/4 - but was easily assimilated into a 4/4-song structure. I’m sure we used SM58s through Radio Shack transformers straight into the Tascam ¼” mic input. It was recorded in a church, with Dave's kit nestled within a plexiglass drum shield, giving the drums a nice isolated “salad bar” effect…

Roto-Tom
I added a deeper and more defined sample-based kick drum part created from a large 14” Roto-Tom tuned low (also played by David Roda). This was taken from another Spirit and the Bride song. I believe we used the 6176 and an SM57 to record it at close proximity.

Bass
The '60s era Klira hollow body bass has a "small" sound that cuts through a mix well in the midrange. I used an interesting rubber pick for a subtly enhanced attack. I recorded the signal direct into the 6176 with moderate compression settings late one night in the bedroom.

Organ
I used my beloved NI B4 virtual instrument to create the thick, slow grinding organ part. A moderate overdrive setting was used and the drawbars were set to create a harmonically dissonant patch. Plenty of B4’s authentic-sounding spring reverb was also applied. The MIDI was bounced to audio and never left the box!

“In the haphazard way of writing a song in your DAW--and only one track at a time--it seems you never know which new element will suddenly make a recording special.”

eBow Main
These were the sounds that inspired the resurrection of this song. They were recorded in UA’s studio through the 6176 and AEA 84 ribbon mic. We borrowed Dave Crane’s beautiful Aiken amp and pedal board. There were a few effects used, most notably a Fulltone Ultimate Octave, Fulltone Deja Vibe and T-Rex Replica delay. Some strings were severely detuned and very loose, and were often played via the makeshift natural slide of Christopher’s index fingernail far up on the highest frets, even beyond and above the pickups—providing a very voice-like, expressive quality, capable of articulating subtle microtones.

Guitar Swell
Recorded direct into the 6176 in the UA studio using just the volume knob of the guitar to swell into the sustained chord. A nice addition from Christopher, this bit really makes the ending of the song beautiful.

eBow Glissando/Chatter/Tremolo/Reverse
Recorded in the UA studio as late-entry overdubs to add increased tension to the bridge. The effects used were a Moog MF-102 Moogerfooger, a modified DOD Overdrive, Electro-Harmonics Octave Multiplexer, and an Ernie Ball Volume pedal. “Reverse” was played with rubber xylophone mallets—and then the track was reversed within Digital Performer.

The guitar rig

808 Ride/Hi-Hat/Laser/Bridge Paradiddle
Recorded direct into the 6176 from my old Roland R8 drum machine.

Mouth Ride Literally, my own voice attempting to sound like a filtered and enveloped white noise ride cymbal. Recorded through the 6176 and SM57 in the bedroom.

Plate Crash is the sound a single sample going through Plate A at The Plant in Sausalito. Recorded with the line of the MOTU Traveler. I’ve used this sound on a couple mixes now.

Chime Guitar/Chime Guitar 5th
The Chime Guitar was recorded in the bedroom direct into the 6176 with a touch of 4:1 compression. The Chime Guitar 5th was created with DP’s pretty awful-sounding onboard “Spectral Effects” processor. The creative awfulness was perfect in creating a glitchy, textured guitar harmony.

Paul’s Main Vocal
Recorded in the bedroom with the 6176 and the Brauner Phantom V condenser. We used the SE Reflexion Filter and the Royer pop filter. We used mild 4:1 compression.

Paul’s Harmony Vocal
Also recorded with the 6176 and Brauner.

Paul’s Octave Vocal
This one is from Paul’s original demo recordings. It was pitch shifted with DP’s internal pitch edit software. I used it to bump up an entire performance one octave. A great tool for pitch fix, but there are some audible artifacts from such a dramatic shift in pitch. We like what those artifacts added creatively to the sound of the song. The fact that it is not the same performance as the main vocal gives it a doubling effect.

Mariana’s Main Vocal
Recorded with the 6176 and the Brauner in the bedroom.

Mariana’s Harmony Vocal
Recorded with the 6176 and the Brauner in the bedroom.

Ring Mod Vocal
Recorded with the LA-610 MkII and the Brauner in the bedroom. This was recorded as an afterthought once Michael Romanowski’s mastering was complete. The Ring Mod Vocal had the effects bounced into the track along with reverb.

Wurlitzer Piano
Another late entry, incorporated after Michael’s mastering work. Recorded through the 6176 using the Audix D2 mic right on the grille. I used the 6176 hi shelf EQ boosting 4.5 kHz 9 dB. There are two parts, a high and low octave blended and panned.

Mixing

Some of the mix elements have been combined to minimize track count for the purposes of this article. In these cases effects were bounced down in the process. Noted below.

Echo Send
Roland RE-201 Space Echo was used with minimal delay settings with a 16th note echo. Panned hard left within the plug-in.

Reverb Send
Plate 140 with the damper fully open on Plate B. Small pre-delay and low-end cut/high-end boost EQ emphasis.

The bedroom studio

Golden Loop
Cambridge was used to boost the bass with a Type A shelf at 50 Hz. The Neve 1081 EQ was used for some subtle hi-mid and high frequency boosting. Lastly the SPL Transient Designer was used liberally to increase attack and minimally reduce sustain. Panned nearly hard right, while the aux return from the RE-201 was hard left.

Roto-Tom
I used the SPL TD at maximum attack and sustain settings for an extreme effect. The result makes the source a far cry from the final result. What a fantastic plug-in for this purpose. The SPL was followed by the Neve 1073, which adds some subharmonic content with a shelving boost at 110 Hz, and some 1.8 attack with the mid-band followed by some air with the HF shelf.

Bass
A little 1176 compression was used at 4:1 with the slowest attack and release settings. The Klira was chosen for its midrange qualities, but the raw track still needed a little EQ—a mild boost to the low shelf at 35 Hz, plus a major boost to the attack at 3.2 kHz. Sent to the Plate 140 reverb for ambience.

Organ
I filtered out the subs at 71 Hz at 18 dB per octave and added a little bump at 2.65 kHz.

eBow Main/Guitar Swell
Only DP’s Auto Pan was used for both tracks for a slowly moving stereo image. Both were also sent to the Plate 140 via an aux send—both were set pre-fader. The ending swell was sent liberally to the Plate 140 and Roland RE-201. Bounced with pan and fader positions intact and all UAD plugs.

eBow Glissando/Chatter/Tremolo/Reverse
Four tracks combined here. Only “eBow Trem” used any insert effects. Cambridge was used to filter out the top at 6.57 kHz, 30 dB per octave and Neve 1073SE was used to minimally boost the midrange at 3.2 kHz. Each track is panned at various places in the stereo field, and eBow Glissando was sent to the Plate 140 pre-fader. Bounced with all effects, pan, and automation.

808 Ride/Hi-Hat/Laser/Bridge Paradiddle/Plate Crash/Mouth Ride
Six tracks combined here. Each track is panned at various places in the stereo field and all but “Bridge Paradiddle” is sent to the Plate 140. The Hi Hat was sent to the RE-201 as well. Bounced with pan and fader positions intact but without effects. Bounced with all pans, effects and automation.

Chime Guitar/Chime Guitar 5th
Two tracks combined here. Both use identical 1176 settings at 4:1 and 1081SE settings both with a mild cut at 2.2kHz. The main chime guitar also uses the Roland Dimension D in “All-Buttons” and the Roland RE-201. The RE-201 is only used in automation at the very end of the track to send the guitar into a moment of self-ocillation. Bounced with effects and with pan and fader positions intact.

Paul’s Main Vocal
The Neve 1073 was used to add a mild boost to the bass at 110 Hz, a moderate midrange peak at 1.6 kHz and some air with shelving filter. Two LA-3As were used in series, both doing mid compression. Lastly the Precision De-Esser was used, for obvious reasons!

Paul’s Harmony Vocal
Cambridge was used for a low cut at 71 Hz at 18 dB per octave with a very wide boost at 1.5 kHz for intelligibility. This was followed by two LA-3As in series. This was sent to the Plate 140 buss.

Paul’s Octave Vocal
Again, Cambridge was used for a low cut at 71 Hz at 18 dB per octave with a very wide boost at 1.5 kHz for intelligibility. This was followed by a single LA-3A. This was sent to the Plate 140 buss.

Mariana’s Main Vocal
The mids were boosted very conservatively at 16.kHz with the Neve 1073SE. Sent to the Plate 140.

Mariana’s Harmony Vocal
A minor floor rumble was cut with Cambridge—49 kHz at 18 dB per octave.

Ring Mod Vocal/Wurlitzer Piano
These parts were mixed in later with the mastered version of the mix. The Ring Mod was the built-in effect within DP and the reverb used was Dreamverb with a particularly long predelay and emphasis on the high frequencies. I used the Harrison 32C EQ high and low cut filters and one bell to boost the mids at 1.4. Plus a little LA-3A compression. For the Wurlitzer, I compressed the part with the 1176, Boosted 1kHz with the Harrison EQ and inserted the Cooper Time Cube with two separate delay times panned hard left and right. I automated an increase in decay on the last chords of the part. Both parts are bounced together with effects.

Mastering

(The remainder is written by Michael Romanowski, Mastering Engineer).

After hearing the song, I wanted to pull the mix forward a little. The left-to-right organ swirl became a bit wider, more dramatic. The vocals became more prominent, clearer. The bass harmonic rings more clearly as well.
Pulling the presence forward was aided by the Pultec Pro, adding a slight boost with a wide Q at 5 kHz and a small dip at 1 kHz. Additionally, I pulled back the middle with the Precision EQ at 572 Hz, which helped clean up the midrange vocal area without brightening the mix. Again using the Precision EQ, a low boost at 57 Hz was to needed to give the foundation portion of the kick a little boost, as was the boost in the low band of the Precision Multiband Compressor. The kick had a nice attack, but the low bass and bottom of the kick needed a little strengthening to match the punch of the kick. Adding some slight compression to the low mid band of the Precision Multiband was to help balance the low punch with the foundation and avoid letting the kick get out of control by the related boosting.
Returning to the Pultec Pro, I added a slight warmth to the grind of the organ and power of the vocal at 200 Hz. Next, a wide 11k bell curve on the Precision EQ helped open up the top slightly without adding brightness. The Precision EQ high pass filter at 20 Hz let more energy through in the listening reproduction frequencies rather than weighing down the mix with frequencies that would be hard to reproduce and muddy up the playback. Finally, the Precision Limiter was put in place last to bring the volume up a little without allowing digital overs. A very quick release was to let the music breath without holding it down unnecessarily.
Download the individual tracks, including the pre-mastered mix and presets for both the mixing and mastering stages (http://www.uaudio.com/webzine/2009/march/_dl/Golden_Calf.zip).

©2004-10 Universal Audio

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Once again, the article can be found in its native environs at: http://www.uaudio.com/webzine/2009/march/analog.html, replete with several additional links (to equipment/software and such used) that I omitted to provide better readability in the Blog format. Hope you found it informative and enjoyable!...
(The archived installments and a ton of other great material can be found at http://www.uaudio.com/webzine/archives.html).

A homage to one of Monsieur Obscure's most highly esteemed influences: Joni Mitchell

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 13:32:22 -0700

A dialogue came about some time ago between a few friends and I regarding Joni Mitchell and some of her contempories of the late ‘60s. Here are a few of the fruits of that debate...

The fact that she learned exclusively using alternate tunings and didn't even know standard tuning until at least much later in her career (if ever?...) is about as cool as it gets. Then add to that her great poetic, emotional songwriting and her eventual venturings into the jazz realm... Oh, and her beautiful, mesmerizing voice.

Yeah, a true folk pioneer... Puts Joan Baez and Judy Collins to shame, as far as I'm concerned. Compared to Joni, they were virtually a dime-a-dozen...

My 2 cents.

In all fairness, comparing these singers is like comparing apples to oranges. Yet from a strictly personal, subjective, opinion-based standpoint I don't consider them in the same league and probably not even in the same genre - except perhaps in the beginning. For whatever it's worth, a crazy parallel is as follows: Judy/Joan are like Eric Clapton, while Joni is like Jimi Hendrix. The traditionalist vs. the pioneer. Anyhow...

Here’s a somewhat comprehensive run-down of well known artists who have likewise been inspired and influenced by Joni:

Mitchell's work has had an influence on artists as disparate as Tori Amos, Alanis Morissette, Björk, Jeff Buckley, Clannad, Elvis Costello, Dan Fogelberg, Janet Jackson, Maynard James Keenan (Tool), Annie Lennox, Madonna, Chan Marshall (Cat Power), George Michael, Morrissey, Juice Newton, Conor Oberst, Prince, The Roots, Roxette, Shakira, The Sundays, Fiona Apple, and KT Tunstall.

For instance, Prince's song "The Ballad of Dorothy Parker" off the album Sign 'O' the Times, pays tribute to Mitchell, both through his evocative Mitchell-like harmonies and through the use of one of Mitchell's own techniques: as in Mitchell's song "This Flight Tonight", Prince references a song in his lyrics (Joni's own "Help Me") as the music begins to emulate the chords and melody of that song. Another Mitchell reference left by Prince can also be seen on the back cover of his 1981 Controversy record, where one of the headlines reads "*JONI*".

Madonna has also cited Mitchell as the first female artist that really spoke to her as a teenager; "I was really, really into Joni Mitchell. I knew every word to Court and Spark; I worshiped her when I was in high school. Blue is amazing. I would have to say of all the women I've heard, she had the most profound effect on me from a lyrical point of view."

A number of artists have enjoyed success covering Mitchell's songs. Judy Collins's 1967 recording of "Both Sides Now" reached #8 on Billboard charts and was a breakthrough in the career of both artists (Mitchell's own recording did not see release until two years later, on her second album Clouds). This is Mitchell's most-covered song by far, with 587 versions recorded at latest count. Hole also covered "Both Sides Now" in 1990, renaming it "Clouds" and changing the lyrics. Pop group Neighborhood in 1970 and Amy Grant in 1995 scored hits with covers of "Big Yellow Taxi", the second most covered song in Mitchell's repertoire (with 223 covers). Recent releases of this song have been by Counting Crows in 2002 and Nena in 2007. Janet Jackson used a sample of the chorus of "Big Yellow Taxi" as the centerpiece of her 1997 hit single "Got 'Til It's Gone", which also features rapper Q-Tip saying "Joni Mitchell never lie". Rap artists Kanye West and Mac Dre have also sampled Mitchell's vocals in their music. In addition, Annie Lennox has covered "Ladies Of The Canyon" for the B-side of her 1995 hit "No More I Love You's". Mandy Moore covered "Help Me" in 2003. In 2004 singer George Michael covered her song "Edith And The Kingpin" for a radio show. "River" has been of the most popular songs covered in recent years, with versions by James Taylor (recorded for television in 2000, and for CD release in 2004), Allison Crowe (2004), Rachael Yamagata (2004), Aimee Mann (2005), and Sarah McLachlan (2006). McLachlan also did a version of "Blue" in 1996, and Cat Power recorded a cover of "Blue" in 2008. Other Mitchell covers include the famous "Woodstock" by both Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and Matthews Southern Comfort, "This Flight Tonight" by Nazareth, and well-known versions of "Woodstock" by Eva Cassidy and "A Case Of You" by Tori Amos, Jane Monheit, Prince, and Diana Krall.

Prince's version, "A Case of U", appeared on A Tribute to Joni Mitchell, a 2007 compilation released by Nonesuch Records, which also featured Bjork ("The Boho Dance"), Caetano Veloso ("Dreamland"), Emmylou Harris ("The Magdalene Laundries"), Sufjan Stevens ("Free Man in Paris") and Cassandra Wilson ("For the Roses"), among others. Some of the recordings were made in the late 1990s when a project entitled A Case Of Joni was developed but left incomplete. Among those who recorded tracks for the first tribute album, which remain unreleased, were Janet Jackson and Sheryl Crow.

Several other songs reference Joni Mitchell. Led Zeppelin's "Going to California" was said to be written about Robert Plant and Jimmy Page's infatuation with Mitchell, a claim that seems to be borne out by the fact that, in live performances, Plant often says "Joni" after the line "To find a queen without a king, they say she plays guitar and cries and sings". Jimmy Page uses a double dropped D guitar tuning similar to the alternative tunings Mitchell uses. The Sonic Youth song Hey Joni from their acclaimed Daydream Nation album is named for Mitchell. Sonic Youth (Kim Gordon) also uses a wide variety of alternate guitar tunings.

- Wikipedia (boldness added)

Ideas for fostering creativity through the recording process

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 04:37:06 -0700

Wondering how you can get the most out of your recording rig, in terms of enhancing your creativity and deepening your musicianship? It all comes down to being resourceful and finding how to do very much with very little. This is how a boy of 9 years of age can spend the first 13 years of his musical life finding ways to jot down ideas, achieve lo-fi multitrack recording, and go from a neophyte to an accomplished musician all with nothing more than various tape recorders and ‘ghetto blasters’, coupled with boundless imagination, inventiveness, and an insatiable desire to grow by any means possible. Then finally, by age 22, with more advanced recording equipment at his disposal, even the sky is no limit to what can be accomplished.

Experimenting with additional tracks, jamming over/along with what you've already recorded can open up new and pleasantly unexpected ideas. Even if you end up canning most or even all of them when it's over, the process can be invaluable and rewarding. And if you happen upon a new part, a bridge idea you were lacking, a solo concept, chordal variations, unusual but fitting riffs, etc... Well, then consider that a much welcomed bonus! Even guitar melody that can be converted and/or expanded into vocal melodies. But as always, it is good to realize when less is more. When silence is as important as sound. When doing nothing is more meaningful than doing something. (I'm waxing mildly Taoist here...). As opposed to what we are barraged with from all sides to the contrary (specifically in music, and guitar playing in general), SIMPLICITY is a good thing.

Sometimes it is far more profound than overwhelming complexity.

I guess the exact details and particulars depend on one's unique situation, but for me, I've always looked back fondly and viewed recording as an often therapeutic exercise. Even if they're goofy ditties, or funky, corny sketches (or like when I first got going - not even knowing what a chord or a scale or a note or even what being in tune or out of tune was!...), just the raw creative act is not only exhilarating but liberating too. Especially if you approach it with the mindset that there are no mistakes.

Having a good, like-minded friend to musically experiment with also doesn't hurt. I had the good fortune of having such a 'soul-brother' during those early years and still credit the core of my musical identity to the zany and innocent times that we shared during those halcyon days of creativity.

Unfortunately, most of those tapes have not survived the ravages of time. Although bits and pieces still live on in my memory, immortalized as pillars and pinnacles of obscurity...