Musical DNA

Posted on August 10, 2008 by mpomy

What Makes A Song?

In recent weeks, I’ve committed myself to utilizing the various composition tools at my disposal, especially this computer. So I’ve been mucking about a lot in an effort to basically duplicate the experience I had with iMovie. While that has worked out well, I’m not satisfied with the limitations of the software. Having to go to the previous version to create clips with video manipulation and different speeds has been a chore, even though it has added more visual options. However, when push comes to shove, I would gladly give up the visual spfx and just enjoy the simplicity and effectiveness of the new program’s interface. In a way, that’s the most important feature of all, and not all those bells and whistles.

So this brings me to the Native Instruments I/O box and the midi controller for software instruments, and now it’s all about GarageBand. Lots of tracks, beautiful interface, loops galore for all instruments and voice. It’s plenty of bells and whistles with a (now that I got the hardware interfaces) friendly and inviting interface. I’m getting pretty comfortable pretty quickly, but I still haven’t done a ‘mic’d up recording’. That will have to wait till I address the issue of getting started.

So the options put me in mind of a complex dance. I can let the machine lead me, more so than in a long time when I just recorded to four track live with a drum pattern generated by a Zoom multi-effects pedal. Now, I can sequence directly, but it’s clumsy. The software is really encouraging loop development and provides numerous grooves, tempos, kits, fills, and everything else you could hope for.

My most successful compositions have been developed so that they would sound full and complete, even if only played by a single, six-string guitar. No effects, no amp, perhaps no pick. That, to me, was the DNA of a composition. I could then layer, overdub and jam at will.

Another decision is whether to begin with something (simple) and new, or try to create, from the ground up, a performance of a song for which I’ve (basically) decoded that musical DNA. I have started that process already, just to have a canvas from which to work. I’m bothered by having to hunt and hunt for exactly the right rhythm part for songs that I’m already acquainted with. I’m guessing that hunting will go easier when I’m doing that while conjuring a new composition. There are a few contenders for this, but so far nothing I’ve played while plugged into the I/O box.

And then there’s the bass…

So I have a ways to go, but I have gotten started.

Last.FM not really keeping track anymore

Posted on August 10, 2008 by mpomy

Too bad. I liked checking in with my stats every day or two. Now, the ‘scrobbling’ from my iPod is intermittent at best. It still tracks what’s being played on the computer (iTunes), but not the pod. I guess it’s for the best, though, because it was making the synch time go extra long. Now, it’s nice and quick.

I LOVE GARAGE BAND!

Posted on August 8, 2008 by mpomy

Mixmaster Mpomy!

I’ve got loops, I’ve got live guitar; I’ve got midi controller, I’m outta control!! The question is whether to just muck about, try to record one of my songs or if I’m going to start with guitar or start with lops or what. I’ve got four little projects going and I’ll post whatever gets done first. This is fun!

last.FM improvement

Posted on July 17, 2008 by mpomy

sprucing things up?

A bit of luck: just when I decide I’m sick of seeing Lindsey Bukingham’s forehead in my Last.FM artist quilt (see below left), they fix the album quilt to be more up-to-date and they spruce up the whole user interface. Nice! I’m not about to use it for social networking, but it’s fun to keep track of what I’ve been listening too. Also, it helps generate the below signature:

Keeping Track Of Music

Posted on July 16, 2008 by mpomy

EPIC PROG!!!!!
I want to start keeping up with music over here at mpomy.com. That means lots of ramblings about the connections between different artists and what order the guitar pedals should go. Not all of this will make sense.

My plan this morning was to listen to songs that were only in the thirty-minute neighborhood. I didn’t really follow through completely with that, but the album pictured above is a good place to start with the long songs – it has to in the 30’s, on in the 16’s and the obligatory ballad, which Neal Morse does remarkably well.

Beardfish makes me happy

Posted on July 3, 2008 by mpomy

Best. Band. Ever. These guys are in their mid 20’s and they play this insane pop-zappa-prog-blues-rock. AND they’re from Sweden, but the lyrics are (almost entirely) in english and they’re actually quite good. I’m shocked that I’ve found a band that’s so great and so young. And when I say ‘I found’, what I really mean is Dr. Starr found and told me to listen to. The new record is Sleeping In Traffic, Pt. 2. GO BUY IT NOW!!! This video is from 2006 and will give you some idea of the pure joy that is Beardfish!

Re-boot

Posted on May 19, 2008 by mpomy

iPod stops bullet
It’s not quite as bad as pictured, but my 80GB iPod Classic bought the farm the other day. No picture, no power, no nuthin. I went to forums and reviwed troubleshooting guides from Apple and others. I made an appointment at the Genius Bar. The dude played with it for about 12 seconds and then handed me a replacement. Data (67GB)– Gone.

That’s fine, I’ve got everything backed up in various places. So this will have some differences compared to the music on the old (and inartfully named) Progpod. The MpomyPod will feature less Dead. I love them enough to commit to rotate stock. I’ll just start at the beginning of Dick’s Picks and keep no more the one or two set on the MpomyPod at a time. That will free up LOTS of space.

Some of the old stuff is making a comeback. That’s especially true with the fusion and the Clapton. I may even have to get the Derek and the Dominoes Fillmore Concert. Contains the longest known version of ‘EC’s Let It Rain’ (about 1/2 hour).

Clapton

Posted on May 14, 2008 by mpomy

Slowhand

We can slag this guy all we want. We can say he went soft in the 80’s. We can say he never did anything new or special of different, or at least not after Cream. But, you know what? This dude can play the blues – FOR REAL. And he’s been doin’ it pretty much non-stop for, like, 45 years. He hasn’t stopped because it appears that he can’t. I think a lot about the blues lately. It’s something that speaks to me in a very direct fashion. Even when I was young, I could feel it. there was no intellectual aspect. It was all emotion. When I was too young to know how vital it was to be able to express emotions so that they didn’t back up on me and create havoc (or more havoc) later on, I knew that I could play blues music – simple, almost infantile, expressions of a feeling that is so important and so universal. I think I learned a lot of this from Clapton.

I Feel Like A Backstop

Posted on May 12, 2008 by mpomy

I feel like stuff keeps getting thrown at me. It’s mostly bouncing off, but it’s still a pretty grueling situation. We’ve gone most of the way, and its starting to get pretty exhausting. There’s the cumulative effect of Em’s chemo, piling up all around like foul balls stacked up to my knees.

I just hit the wall today. It was not fun. There have been signs along the way. I snapped my key in the lock a few days ago. I’ve just been feeling different, and not better. We’re in the trough right now and it’s damned hard getting out. But Em just talked about the feeling she gets riding her bike – the pedals going up and down, the chain driving the wheel, going faster and faster. That’s a pretty powerful feeling. It’s like the name for her magical sword that protects her and causes her to vanquish her enemy, except it’s not a name, it’s that feeling.

Then we shared hot dogs on New England-style buns while listening to a Crowded House bootleg from 1987. That’s been a whole lot better than feeling trapped under our misery.

We’re almost done.

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