Friday, May 31, 2002

       Wow!  Talk about being productive--I just spent the last 3 days listening to, compiling and enhancing the recording of Tuesday's practice and it has turned out to be quite an excitement.  After hearing the finalized tracks on CD, both Michael and myself were thoroughly impressed.  Within a period of about 60-90 minutes we captured more than just musical ideas.  We captured a real spark of enthusiasm and chemistry as a rhythm section (with bass leads).

        Soon, MidiVerb4 and Pro Tools!  I have to switch to the MidiVerb4 because I get major hiss with my VF-1.  It's causing a lot of problems with recording.  In addition to that purchase, I'm looking into a wireless system for playing live.  Nady makes one that is a half rack space with 2 wireless boxes.  Oh, and let's not forget a new footswitch!  Ahh, the things I could buy if only I were a millionaire.

peace,
Jim

Tuesday, May 28, 2002

        Another exceptionally productive practice took place with Michael today.  We managed to squeeze in a little jam before one of his lessons.  (Hope you made it on time M!)  Even though the only method of recording we had available was my Tascam 4-track, it did the job nicely.  I'll be transferring the audio into the computer for further analysis.

        There is one song that we are both especially excited about.  It has come a long way and will be an excellent candidate for a more professional copy in the near future.  More info on that later.

        In other news, I haven't heard from Scam Cash regarding my bass amp repair.  I know that this Hartke isn't going to take much more of my abuse!  Not that I'm an abusive player by any means, but more along the lines of my cabinet putting such a strain on this puny little amp's transformer.  As much as I would like to downsize my amp, nothing smaller would ever sound as good as my Ampeg.  I've thought about trying Mesa Boogie's 400+, but that's even heavier, with tubes!  No, I think I'll stick to solid-state.

Monday, May 27, 2002

        Happy Memorial Day!  Drink up, party on, drive safe.  Or better yet, don't drive at all!  This is such a great day for Tiki Torches!  Bust 'em out, light 'em up and get your drink on!

Monday, May 20, 2002

        Does anyone have dental-phobia?  I can't stand having work done on my gums.  I feel like there's enough space in between my teeth to stuff 2x4's!  On to the good news. . .

        I added music to the index and bio pages of the site.  It's background music that automatically downloads while you're viewing the page.  If you have a fast connection, you should experience almost immediate audio.  For slower connections, modems, etc. it will take a little longer to hear.  Enjoy!

        A quiet jam at Michael's house yielded some interesting new ideas.  We have some more ambient pieces to go along with "Raining Grace".  Eventually, we'll be able to put together a little EP of these trance-like songs.  Samples are on the way.  I will keep everyone posted.

Thursday, May 16, 2002

        WOOHOO!  I now have a Hartke 5000 bass head!  It's half the size of my Ampeg, missing a few nobs and has a few burnt out LED's.  Good thing this is only a loaner.  Hopefully I won't have to deal with this for too long.  So, for all of you who haven't guessed, my bass amp became fried!  Off to the service lab for my baby.

Monday, May 13, 2002

        It was an interesting day as I ventured from place to place trying to get my car serviced for annoying little squeaks.  It turns out that my brakes are fine and I must be imagining the squeaking noises coming from my tire.  Let's not forget the annoying strut problem I've had forever!  Now, my car doesn't bottom out, but there's still an awful squelch emanating from under the trunk.  A recent investigation yielded that loose mud flaps make a similar squelching sound.  Perhaps that's the origin of the "beast beneath my car."

        In other news, I installed a head unit and changer in Michael's van.  After having been out of the car audio profession for over  3 years, I was reminded of why I decided to quit that body contorting job in the first place.  Regardless of the shape I'm in now, the radio is in and working.

        Shortly thereafter, Michael and I began recording open jams in my basement.  While getting ideas down on the HD was productive, my bass amp decided to start crackling.  So, I'm in the process of avoiding it for the next day or so.  Hopefully, it's just the affects of Mercury going into retrograde.  If not, then I'll be without my amp for a duration of time.

Thursday, May 9, 2002

        A long awaited, well deserved jam took place in my basement as Michael and I let out some steam.  Our ambient/trance ideas are so relaxing and low key that we had to satisfy our need to rock out.  We broke the ice with a little 12-bar blues/rock jam.  Then I quickly switched to some funk ideas and later into some odd meter jams.  (By the way, the odd meter was so odd, we have yet to determine how to count it -- just a little influence from the Flecktones.)  Since we spent so much energy on rocking out and counting measures, we ended our little rock portion of the night with, you guessed it, some more ambient, harmonic bass melodies.

        The entire evening went very well and we are both looking forward to what the next session will spawn.  Part of the beauty of working with Michael is our not being set on playing one, particular style of music.  In fact, it is more of a goal for us to produce music that can't be classified.  Until next time.

Wednesday, May 1, 2002

        Practice with Plastic Movie Heroes went well.  A decision has been made to enter into the Kahunaville Summer Band Jam.  Every Thursday, Kahunaville plays host to this Regional Battle of The Bands competition.  It would be a good place to play locally and use as leverage to playing other venues.