what is going on in your musical life

Update: Zach is a shy young man who is quite skilled at playing guitar, but needs encouragement to play live more. Fortunately he has fallen in with the right crowd.

My friends and I are collaboration sluts; if there is an unoccupied stage in the tri-state area we will contrive to put together a temp supergroup and make noises for anyone who will listen. The scene is vibrant.

Can I object to the usage of sexual language to describe musical collaboration? This is the second time. The first time I thought about saying something but didn’t want to get into it. This time I’m saying something bc it’s language that conjures a type of human interaction that isn’t accurate/appropriate for the conversation and, for me, is strongly unwelcome. If someone described me like that I would be horrified. Not bc I’m prudish but bc that’s not what making music is about and there are other words. It’s also language used by people who aren’t hurt by language implying promiscuity.

In sum use other words please please please. That’s it I’m done. I’m glad you’re getting opportunity to play a lot. I wish I were!

ll otm

Ok sorry, no intention to offend. I'll use other words in future and leave it there.

I know you didn’t intend to offend. Thank you for using other words going forward and not telling me to fuck off!

Happy to acknowledge that I'm fortunate to be in a thriving live music scene. It's also true that I am not picky.

Some evenings I'll find myself supporting an utter beginner, in an environment where everyone applauds every effort. One time an 11-year-old kid came in with approximately three chords; everyone was supportive. The next night we jammed with lthe bassist from Scream and the guitarist from one of Madonna's pre-fame bands.

I don't play every night but I could, and I am always delighted that it is such a smorgasbord.

YMP, I live nearby. I’d love to workshop some songs with your crew. Might hit you up at some point

Any time, Heez.

does anyone else, when they're working on new stuff, tend to get ahead of themselves and long to time travel to when a musical project is fully realized and available for other people to hear? my band made an album in 2018 and we were starting to write songs for a new album/ep/whatever in 2019 but then the pandemic happened and, since we're all a lot more inspired when we're playing in a room together, both the band and the music were kind of on hold for two years. now that we're playing more frequently, we've written about 6-7 really worthy songs, so during a recent week when i was sick and we couldn't practice, i sequenced our new EP, even though most of the songs didn't have complete lyrics or even vocal melodies. thankfully doing this has really focused us and we're finishing the remainder of the unfinished songs and starting to plot when and where and with whom to record (anyone who records with a band in the nyc area: recommendations???), but i felt so silly at the time even though i was also very very excited

anyway making music is the best thing in the world

I miss playing with people so much

Finally have my drums set up (in my office!!) and I’m playing a lot. Very basic stuff. I’ve only had a couple lessons but trying to teach myself. My latest exercise was forcing myself to start on the two instead of the one. That basic

i really badly want to be in an a capella singing group, but a) those take such time and energy to even find the right singers, b) finding good arrangements takes time, and c) you probably need a director who isn't in the group to give feedback.

but maybe it's time to take the plunge this year. nothing serious, just 'buncha people singing around a lamp pole' type thing

does anyone else, when they're working on new stuff, tend to get ahead of themselves and long to time travel to when a musical project is fully realized and available for other people to hear? .... i sequenced our new EP, even though most of the songs didn't have complete lyrics or even vocal melodies.

omg yes, i used to do this when i was making music. i would start sequencing records of songs in varying stages of incompletion, even including songs that hadn't been written at all yet based on comps i intended to reference.

would go as far as to say the image of the record and the sequence came first and the songs came after. or maybe it would start with one incomplete song idea in a new-ish style.

there's a lot to be said for this approach imo.

Heh I try not to do this too much, but I think it can be helpful when writing to figure out what's missing in a record. But one thing I've learned is that however you think it's going to go, the final sequencing is going to be affected by how everything shakes out in mixing and mastering, and the best-sounding tracks may not be the ones you expected (and are usually the ones with the best and most minimal arrangements).

...this way you look at the songs you have and say 'what are we missing'

i recently listened to a track we did that i'd completely forgot about, because it was written just to close the gap between my image of what the record was going to be and the songs that were actually written.

on its own it does everything the whole record was supposed to do and gives a false sense that all the other songs are doing it, too. it's also the craziest thing we ever attempted and recorded.

xp!!

the final sequencing is going to be affected by how everything shakes out in mixing and mastering, and the best-sounding tracks may not be the ones you expected

that's true but you also end up with different songs that you didn't have before.

Yeah, there are so many stories of the big hit single being the one written after the record is "done", which may be partially because now you can see the whole picture (and also probably because they're written quickly and without overthinking it).

new stuff for Bandcamp Friday. It's 18 minutes of distorted drums, thick dubstep bass and crunchy guitars, but with pan pipes and string samples - not quite "power ambient" but almost there.

link?

I've embedded it in the first sentence of the post, sorry!

Oh lol, couldn't see it on my dim phone screen. Will check it out!

I had two releases coincide this week, one on my label (I just did the remix at the end) and a single on a different label:

https://impossiblecityrecords.bandcamp.com/track/waterfall-in-reverse

https://limitedresourceslabel.bandcamp.com/album/hmurd-lrl004

In the week I’ve had my bass I have been focusing on hitting the notes smoothly and without any fret buzz. need to build up strength in my left hand fingers

https://i.imgur.com/bdPdoH0.jpg

It me

Available for practices and gigs that are in the middle of a river

Available for practices and gigs that are in the middle of a river

I'm taking a break from building DJ sets so that I can focus on getting some new original music completed. I went through long list of half-finished jams I had in Ableton to sort out what could actually be turned into something real. Here's the first new one of the year, a dark melodic techno track that brings those late night rave vibes. I'm quite happy with how this came out!

https://soundcloud.com/moodlesmix/haptic-drift

something that's really nice is going back to listen to music you made long enough ago that you feel separate from it and can't remember the details or struggles of the creative process anymore and you can just appreciate it as music and it still sounds good to you

This is true, although it can be frustrating to be faced with the inability to remember how I made something when I'd very much like to do it again. It sometimes feels like I'm starting from scratch each time I try to record something new, and arriving at the point where I know how to shape something into a finished piece seems to happen through arbitrary magic or luck rather than a repeatable process.

just mastered the cassini record (band me and global t. are in) and it looks like it's going to be released on vinyl, which is a lifelong dream of mine to have a full length i played on

Awesome, congrats!

Nice!

I'm getting more comfortable throwing away demos that stall out or don't have an obvious path to becoming a finished thing. You can always come back later to scavenge them for parts.

congrats ums and global t

It sometimes feels like I'm starting from scratch each time I try to record something new, and arriving at the point where I know how to shape something into a finished piece seems to happen through arbitrary magic or luck rather than a repeatable process.
moodles you have to write it down

i have been struggling with this for an upcoming performance and have had to devise a notation method that i can understand so i am able to recreate things i made. it's going...ok

lol

congrats on the mastering & release -- true dream indeed

Was drunk last night & listening to pretty much everything I’ve ever released under different project names & I think the best of me would make one really very good album.

thanks all! it's pretty cool and very unexpected.

i have been struggling with this for an upcoming performance and have had to devise a notation method that i can understand so i am able to recreate things i made. it's going...ok

lol

― Piggy Lepton (La Lechera), Tuesday, April 18, 2023 6:26 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

this is a total struggle, my "solution" is having a million and one 15 second phone recordings called shit "led zep thing" or "bouncy riff" haha

I’m much more methodical about it! I have to be — I’d never be able to understand my notation/plan otherwise. I’ve got a solo performance coming up Sunday and I’m on the “rehearse set every day at least once” stage of prep. If it’s just me up there, I have to do whatever I can to not let myself down. There’s room for improvisation but I need practice and a plan to feel confidently prepared. I’m less obsessive about rehearsal for teaching but just as obsessed with planning.

One time I was playing a couple shows with a band I rehearsed with like 3x and I not only had detailed notes and hours of practice but I laminated my notes just in case. I wasn’t about to lose my plan bc someone (me) might spill a beer. That’s dedication amirite???

Any NY ilxors down to play?

I'm starting to feel like I'm leveling up with recording on my current setup and getting closer to that ever elusive workflow. I'm more comfortable in Ableton and have a pretty good idea of go-to effects to use to shape particular sounds, and I'm figuring out ways to get usable sounds out of the Roland TR-8S drum machine. With the synth and modular gear, I've learned to let things roll and play without constantly tweaking so that I can take my jams and shape them into parts of actual tracks.

I spent a bunch of time on this noisy techno track over the weekend, especially with getting drum tracks that worked with the chunks of modular jams that I had recorded previously. Pretty pleased with how it turned out, especially with how the kicks and low end work together and sound plenty thick.

https://soundcloud.com/moodlesmix/quad-funk

Sounds trippy, Moodles. Rock on.

thanks! trippy is indeed my goal.

I’m much more methodical about it! I have to be — I’d never be able to understand my notation/plan otherwise. I’ve got a solo performance coming up Sunday and I’m on the “rehearse set every day at least once” stage of prep. If it’s just me up there, I have to do whatever I can to not let myself down. There’s room for improvisation but I need practice and a plan to feel confidently prepared. I’m less obsessive about rehearsal for teaching but just as obsessed with planning.

― Piggy Lepton (La Lechera), Wednesday, April 19, 2023 10:53 AM (five days ago) bookmarkflaglink

One time I was playing a couple shows with a band I rehearsed with like 3x and I not only had detailed notes and hours of practice but I laminated my notes just in case. I wasn’t about to lose my plan bc someone (me) might spill a beer. That’s dedication amirite???

― Piggy Lepton (La Lechera), Wednesday, April 19, 2023 10:55 AM (five days ago) bookmarkflaglink

this is awesome and i wish i weren't so lazy

I applaud your dedication, LL. For unfamiliar styles (prog, jazz, rockabilly) I do try to be organized, but those gigs are the exception. Most of what I do is normal folk/classic rock/country stuff, so I can usually go in with no plan and no rehearsals whatsoever and it almost always works out fine. I don't need much in the way of guidance for "Hotel California" or "Under the Bridge" or "What's Up" or - GAH - "Wagon Wheel."

Recently, two local acts have asked me to record them, and I am getting reasonably proficient. One is an acoustic singer-songwriter type, the other is a punky emo band. For the former, we record a couple tracks at a time in my basement - he does guitar and vocals and I add drums, bass, and mandolin. For the latter I just bring a mobile rig to their rehearsal space and try to capture a decent room sound plus some overdubs.

I am not ever going to characterize myself as a producer or even an engineer (just a home recordist), but so far it's been fun.

Oh I’d be ok playing covers without laminated notes but this situation i described above was original music with pretty strict arrangements. There was not a lot of room for winging it.

Now that I’m done w my gong performance thing I’m looking to June when I will be recording in an actual studio. It’s my gift to myself for my tenth birthday as drummer.

Ooh cool!

Conga-rats to you LL and best of luck in your endeavors.

we played two shows in one week and both of them were our best shows ever. new material went over really well. my playing's not as fast or as nuanced/musical as i want it to be but at this point i think i'm... a passable drummer? at least according to my standards

does anybody know of a good recording studio/producer combo for a punk band in nyc? we've had to abandon our previous producer bc he's been going on cop-defending rants on facebook since june 2020 lol