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I can remember hearing about Dunblane on the car radio, I was about 10 miles away at the time. I was so shocked I had to pull over. Wasn’t long before I was joined by others, some weeping, some terrified, some being physically sick.
How can we end these pointless massacres? After Dunblane we banned most people from having guns, but there’s no real way we can legislate effectively against the bad guys and the crazies.
It’s impossible to express the horror and sadness I feel for the victims and their families in words. Something like this leaves you empty inside.
To have just witnessed the incredible kindness and generosity of everyone on DDD III, as well.
Grab your family and tell them you love them. Keep them safe.
Our love to you all
Pete
Virtual Bands Website delay
Hi All
Sorry about the delay. Problem is it’s mid March, which is silly season in the UK. (You probably have something similar in your own country).
As they approach the end of the financial year, large corporations and Local Government departments suddenly realise they are underspent on budget and start panic-ing, spawning a massive purchase-fest throughout the country. In some ways that’s great, but it generates a lot of extra work, and keeping my existing customers serviced and trying to court some new ones has taken up all my time.
So again apologies, I’ve got the basics of it built – hopefully I’ll get some time tomorrow and get things moving.
How far…
Okay
Start from here:
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en … iwloc=addr
and zoom out.
About 500miles from London, 300 from Manchester, and 600 from Amsterdam.
Band or Solo Shows
(I’d just like a chance to compare…Please?…) The Usher Hall in Edinburgh would work well..
Musician’s Musicians
The majority of albums I buy are live concerts, largely because I know from experience that you can manufacture virtually anything in the studio these days (Of course if that’s true, then why does the industry continue to insult our intelligence with such incredible crab). Live work is the only way of evaluating a player’s performance.
Bruce is a superb technical player, brilliant improviser and fantastic composer. The live work showcases his innovative flair – every performance is different (why else would we all have 26 different versions of the same song, love them all for their differences, and talk about them in terms of concert dates?). Most other musicians have maybe one or two published live performances.
For me, a musician’s musician is someone that you respect for their ability and talent, but just as importantly for their integrity and humanity – that’s why so many other superb musicians like Clapton, Elton John, Bonnie, Chaka Khan, Ricky, Ornette Coleman, Bela, (fill in the rest of the list yourself, you know the names as well as I do) are so keen to play with him, or have him play with them.
“Bruce?, yeah he’s this cool guy who play great keyboards – I’ll introduce you, I’m sure you’d get along…”
European Geography for beginners…
Kyle, here’s a tip – Amsterdam is in Holland. That’s part of the big bit to the South of England, across the Channel. Scotland is attached (worst luck) and in the other direction..you pass it on the way to Norway…Here endeth European Geography 101
It can be quite easy to get lost however, last week I took a wrong turning off the A1 and ended up in Indonesia. Don’t worry if you get lost though, most Europeans speak better English than the English (with the possible exception of the Swiss for some reason), and can quote great chunks of the Simpsons, Friends and the West Wing. Many seem to think they are completely interchangeable…..
Re: acapellas
Wow! Yes, please! (Gimme Gimme Gimme….)
Either mail them to me, or I’ll send you the ftp details over the next few days- I’m dying to hear this.
re Kathryn’s acapella – Thhe show goes on
I think we’d definitely be interested in this, Si. As you probably know, one of the rarest treasures when you’re building tracks purely from samples is getting your hands on a good acapella (pure, unaccompanied vocal track). The fact that it’s such a well known Bruce song is not a problem. I had imagined that it might be some time before an opportunity like this came up, so if Kathryn is willing to let us use it, that’s fantastic..
(In the unlikely event that anyone has not yet heard Kathryn’s beautiful singing and playing, go immedately to http://www.shadowhands.com and download the CD. It’s a superb piece of work, free, and that’s the best bargain you’re gonna get!)
Of course the main thrust of the virtual band is to see what new, original music we can create, but I for one would love to build an accompaniment to that beautiful voice, singing a great song.
Glad to see David is joining us – although it’s maybe a bit soon to be suggesting names. It’s also a bit dangerous! I’ve seen more than a few bands split over disagreements about the name, some before they managed a single gig, and others who seemed to change their name on a weekly basis!
As an example, here’s several that never made the cut in some of the bands I worked with (and what we ended up with):
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Elliot Ness and the Plain-Clothes Policemen(Shady Grove)
Narcissus le Strange and the Cow Cow Vinegaroos(Sierra Bonde)
The Rolling Suppolas(Monolug)I always had a soft spot for Narcissus le Strange….
It might make a good competition for Bruuuce.com, though…
What’s happening:
I’ve got a couple of gigs of webspace I can devote to this. Over the next few days, I’ll put up a mini-site for the project, with areas that you can up/download to/from. Hopefully we can expand on this as we go and include help and tutorials for those of us new to this field, as well as works in progress. I’m open to suggestions on how we structure it.
I’d like to maintain this forum thread as a meeting place, so everyone can see easily what’s going on, unless Si has any objections?
Watch this thread over the next few days for more information.
Up North
Hi Kyle
That would be great! It would be brilliant to meet you. Where are you planning on going and when?
I live in the village of Colinsburgh in Fife, about 10 miles from St Andrews, just across the water from Edinburgh. Let me know your plans and I’ll do what I can to make it happen.
Here’s a map:
Erin and Kyle, thanks for your enthusiasm – looks like we’ve got enough to get started. Give me a couple days to work out the logistics for file storage/sharing, and some basic control systems. Meantime have a think about putting together some basic sample packs.
For me, the best part about being a musician is doing it with other people that you like and admire. The icing on the cake is doing on stage it in front of people and feeling their reaction.
Even if I can’t get out and do it on stage at the moment, being able to work with other like-minded people, even if they’re on different continents, has to be the next best thing.
I’m really looking forward to getting started. This is a great way of using the capabilities of the internet.
There’s room enough for everyone on this thing, so don’t be shy folks. If you’re interested, come say hello. Talent is useful, but not strictly necessary in this environment. If you can hold it together long enough to record your best (or only) 2 bar lick, even if it takes 100 attempts to get it right, that’s great. After all, who’s going to know (or care!) The important thing is that we’re doing it together
Peaking?
Like a fine wine – “some things just get better with age”
For the last 20 odd years, Bruce has been busy writing the soundtrack to my life. There are many, many of his songs that reflect events, attitudes and emotions in my life, and I’m sure that is true for most of you out there reading this also. That’s one of the reasons we’re all here. If he was a great pianist, but not a very nice human being, we might still admire his virtuosity, but not actively seek it out.
The man isn’t driven by “Success”, thank God, but by a desire to develop as a musician, and to share the thoughts and feelings he has as a human being, husband and father, son and brother with the rest of us in his songs. Because he opens up to us, we respond. Because we respond, he’s not afraid to try new directions.
Peaking? Not a relevant question here. I for one am happy to listen to whatever he’s willing to play for me. There are no tunes that I never play – some just take a little more time to reveal their true quality.
England
Hi Kyle
I’ve been to England – It’s no big deal….(he he)
Travel tip: Hire a car, head North, call me when you cross the Forth Bridge, and I’ll buy you the best pint you ever tasted.
Seriously, have a great time (but don’t drink the water, or anything to do with Tetley’s)
and before anyone spills the beans, yes, both my parents are English (bummer).
Pete
That could well be one of the strengths of a virtual band project, allowing those of us without finely-honed musical skills to participate.
For those of you who never tried this, a sample is a sound recording, that can be of any length and created in any way. At its most basic, it can be something as simple as a handclap or a finger pop, or, at the other end of the scale, it can be a 16 bar, multitracked stereo guitar solo in B minor by Steve Vai. It doesn’t matter which. Each can be considered a building block that can be used to create a new piece of music. The fact that it’s not being created in real-time is irrelevant.
Each of those recordings can be imported into a sequencing program, and be modified to suit the particular piece under construction. We can change the pitch, tempo, duration, reverse it, add effects, layer different versions together to build chords or arpeggios, build it into another sequence using sections from other samples etc…
So even if you can’t play much of anything, even a one bar sax trill, or a two bar guitar strum of D5 could be a valuable addition to a project.
For those of you interested to have a look at this, try Sony’s ACID express – it’s free, and they give you sample projects to play with.
http://www.sonymediasoftware.com/downlo … sp?DID=551
So, a complete lack of musical ability, tone-deafness, failing bodily parts, shyness or self-deprecation will not be considered valid excuses for non-participation. You either wanna or you don’t.
DMB+Bruce
Yeah, really looking forward to it – ’til then, I’ll have to be satisfied with the live cuts on Youtube – they really make a healthy noise – not bad for an acoustic guitar, fiddle and sax! I ain’t leaving them for the next generation, either – I have a big enough heart to accomodate them as well as Bruce and the boys – speaking of whom, a gig in Edinburgh or Dublin would be a treat…
Revised avatar
There you go, changed the avatar to something more appropriate. For those interested in such things, its a 1979 Sonor Phonic, sizes 13, 14, 15, 16, 18 and 24 – not terribly portable, so I use a mesh-headed electronic kit as an alternative (an extended Traps E400)
Avatar
I was testing a new camera (Canon Powershot S3 IS, for anyone who’s interested) while I was setting up the forum account – hence the 335 avatar, as it was sitting in just the right position, and I was too lazy to get out of my chair. In answer to the question, though, a very crappy guitarist, but not a bad drummer, who uses the aforementioned CDs for practice (and weight control). Sonny is a lovely player and very inspirational. Other heroes are John Molo (the bass drum work at the end of Spider Fingers still puts a shiver down my spine), Carter Beauford and the man who either made you decide to give up or practice more, Mr William E. Cobham Jnr.
So when you see the red 335, think instead, ” Massive electric blue Sonor”, known in certain circles as “the Seven Sisters” (or maybe I’ll just change the avatar…)
Resting Place on intersections
I agree with David about Resting Place on Intersections – it’s a fabulous take – in fact that CD has barely been allowed to spin down since my daughter bought me it for Christmas (lovely girl). Also loved Fortunate Son/Confortably Numb from the same disc.
I can also recommend the December 2005 at William and Mary (Xmas Hometown gig) if you’re wondering which MunckMix recording to buy your loved one for your anniversary – difficult to better the warmth of a hometown gig by a favourite son.
First Concerts
The very first was either: Jethro Tull or Ten Years after at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh (It’s been a long time), I think I was about 14 at the time. Also in those early years saw exceptional gigs by Jon Hiseman’s Colosseum, If, Barclay James Harvest, Keef Hartley Band, Pink Floyd, Chicken Shack, Blodwyn Pig (Mick Abrahams), Mountain, Alexis Korner, Tony Williams Lifetime (with Jack Bruce and John McLaughlin), Curved Air, Atomic Rooster,Terry Reid, and later Supertramp, Billy Cobham, Average White Band, Nazareth, Bruce Springsteen, Clapton….
Trying to get to Dublin in May to see DMB, but still not seen Bruce yet!
Get REAL Here!!!
OK. Rose colored glasses away. All we have to deal with now is pre-senile decay.
Im listening to the radio on the internet as I type this (aside: I cant use apostrophes in firefox, its not because Im illiterate). Im listening to the greatest radio station in the world. Ive just had Springsteens “Goin Down” and now Ive got “Everybody wants to rule the world” (Tears for Fears) . Now Sheryl Crowe “Cant cry anymore”.
The world has gotten so big and diverse, and yes I agree that the current state of music played on so-called commercial FM radio (or the BBC in the UK) is appalling. (Now its “Runaway” by Bonnie Raitt)
But…
Search your memories (or look it up on the internet). Most of the (Now U2 – Window in the Skies) “hit parade” was crap when all the quoted heroes were initially active (Now its the WHO – “Join Together”) – most werent what you could rate as commercial successes although folks like you and me heard them and bought the albums (in the UK almost exclusively thanks to the late, and much loved John Peel, but also thanks to Bob Harris, Annie Nightingale, Mike Raven etc)
(Break for Dinner)
(Now, Stevie Ray Vaughn “Pride and Joy”)
Anyway,where was I?
(Sorry, got distracted by Bruce Cockburns “Last night of the world”)
Oh, yeah – Its all out there, you just have to look for it, and not get freaked that not all the stations are playing your tunes.
(Dave Mathews Band “Everyday”)
Grammys? Looking past the obvious marketing crap, Look at who was nominated, (more important than who actually got -) I saw Bruce, Bela Fleck, George Benson, Chick Corea, Ricky Skaggs, the Police etc….. Thatll do pig…thatll do…
Plus, music is still alive and well, there are some fantastic new bands out there (true, not hitting the top 40) and (pause for ELP “From the beginning”) some great soloists too. As usual, it will be some time before the marketing eejits realise the long-term potential of true talent as opposed to the fast buck, but thats always been the way.
Nil desperandum
Nil illigitimi carborundumBy the way, its easier to chill when you’re listening to the Tide (http://www.tideradio.com) and its fantastic new sister station (New Music Channel) – restores your faith in humanity.
(Diamonds on the soles of her shoes -Paul Simon)
Try it – hook your PC up to decent stereo system – dial up the tide, and dance, man, dance….
