I’ve been working on a new original song for a little while, and it’s now finished. It’s a little bit of a departure from the stuff I’ve done to this point. The lyrics are kind of a joke… Kari insisted that I find some use for the phrase “crotch killer.” The first thing that came to mind was the Bobbitt insanity, so I ran with it. (lyrics can be found after the jump.) So, after four long years of no full-on originals, I present “P.A.B.”
A few weeks back, I took advantage of a sweet financing deal at Guitar Center to bag a pair of KRK RP5 studio monitors. Not only are they really nice for production work, but they’ve become my de facto computer speakers as well. I’d have a hard time going back to normal computer speakers.
My latest toy arrived on Friday: a DigiTech GSP2101 preamp/effects processor. I had been lusting after the 2101 for quite a while, and finally went for it when a guy on cyberjammin put his up for sale. It’s a nice preamp for recording, as it has a good hardware-based speaker simulator and decent tube distortion, which sounds really good when properly EQ’ed. I bought this unit for two reasons: 1. late-night playing isn’t exactly feasible with the Recto, unlike the 2101; and 2. to thicken up my recordings in conjunction with the Recto. Hopefully, I’ll have some 2101 recordings up soon.
Of course, gear begets gear, and now I find myself looking at FireWire audio interfaces because my rig is starting to outgrow my Tascam US-122. I probably won’t act on that immediately, though.
Things that have been happening in the last while…My grandmother died a couple weeks ago. Yeah, that sucks. We were fairly close. She lived her last couple years in pretty rough shape, with emphysema and such…at least she’s not suffering anymore.
I got New Stuff! a new L-shaped desk, one of the metal-frame-with-glass-top deals. I dig it. Then I ordered a 20″ widescreen LCD from (gasp!) Dell, which came on Friday. I really dig that. 
Musically:I picked up a guitar last week and actually played for the first time in a month or so. My get-up-and-go factor was a backing that was posted by one of the guys on Cyberjammin…here’s what came out of it: “Jammin’ With Jose” I added guitars and keyboards.
I’ve been invited to contribute a guitar solo to a song for the annual CJ holiday collection. I worked extensively on that on Monday. Unfortunately, that month of not playing softened my fingers enough to the point that I shredded a fingertip, so there won’t be any playing until that heals.
SGNR posted another interesting backing on CJ the other day and I felt compelled to do something with it. Based on the tone of the backing and my injured state, I decided to lay down some synth lead. It’s a bit sloppy in places and there’s one really sour pitch bend (should have bent a semitone up, but I bent a whole tone) but I think it came out alright: SGNR’s “Ode To No One In Particular”
I guess that’s all for now.
That’s the name of my Moestock ‘band.’ Here’s one of our ’songs,’ a big metal jam over a progression that funky came up with. I’m particularly happy with my performance…
What a game and what a series! The Sabres just dismantled the Flyers, 7-1, to win the first-round series in six games. Carolina won their series tonight, which means that we’ll play Ottawa in the second round. I’m cautiously optimistic about this: it all depends on the Sabres’ mindset. In the games that we lost to the Sens, we showed them too much respect and played right into their hands. In the last few games vs. Ottawa, the Sabres faced Ottawa as they would any other team and they were very competitive. Add the important experience gained in the Philly series and I think we can pull this off. As I see it, this is a series with two closely matched teams and, whichever team wins, there are no upsets.
On an unrelated note, 60-80% of Lurid will be getting together for a jam this weekend. Will, Nick and I will be getting together on Sunday afternoon, maybe with Andy as well. I’m hoping that my new tubes and the 7-string pickup that I ordered will get here by the weekend so I can have them in place for the jam. In addition, I’ll be meeting up with a couple Cyberjammers at the musicians’ flea market in the morning…looks like that’s gonna be a good day.
I’ve been working on a cover of Dream Theater’s “War Inside My Head” lately and it’s moving pretty quickly. (Maybe that’s because I’m doing it partially by request?) I’d say it’s about 2/3 done. I recorded guitars yesterday, vocals this morning before work(!) and did overdubs on both this evening. All that’s left to do before mixdown is to finish the drum track (just need to add some of the fills and such) and put down a bass part, which will be easier because I have my keyboard now. I’m hoping to have this song done by the weekend.That’s not all I’ve been doing…! After I finished touching up the guitar parts for WIMH, I laid down a bunch of riffs for Jeff to use in his techno stuff, and then I took a stab at this month’s CJ monthly jam. I call this month’s take “Stuck Mojo” because I was really having a tough time with this one. The takes where I thought my feel and phrasing were best were turning out sloppy, and the clean takes were bland. Finally, I just went all-out and ended up with a take that isn’t anywhere near perfect technically, but feels great to me. Nerd note: I pulled out my old Boss octave pedal for this one…I bought that thing probably two years ago and this was the most I’ve ever used it. I’ve been meaning to sell it, actually…maybe I’ll keep it around now. I was digging it.Aside from that, I’ve done my first site update in a month tonight. I guess I’ll have to do another one when I’m through with WIMH. Oh, the shame!
So, word on the street is that a Lurid reunion may be in the offing. Jeff and I had a jam the other day and have been talking about the band for a while. It would be interesting to revisit that time period, not to mention, fun. I hope it comes together. In other musical things, Jeff and I are probably going to be collaborating on some things: he’ll lay down drums for the new metal stuff I’m currently writing and I’ll lay down some 6-(or 7-)string on some of his techno stuff.If Lurid retakes the stage, I’ll likely be unveiling a new rig. I’m getting a 2×12 vertical Recto cab…but it’s being held hostage until the sis and I finish our oft-delayed remodeling project. Looks like we have some motivation: there’s a new iPod in it for her. (Something for me to envy: those new 5G video-capable ‘Pods look killer!)