Grateful Dead - 4-17-72 - China Cat Sunflower

I can't get enough of this song... :) This live version is a bit slow for my taste but still great fun. I never eally got into the Dead but someof the stuff they do is just mesmerizing. I love the way Jerry Garcia never looks at his instrument as he plays, especially in contrast to Bob Weir and Phil Lesh, who keep their eyes firmly on the fretboard. You also have to dig Jerry Frankenstein of a guitar... :) Too bad the video is cut right when the jammin' gets hot but it's still a lot of fun to watch.

Merry Xmas!

Merry Christmas, everyone! :)

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I recorded it last night using Guitar Rig 3, which I haven't done in a long while. Both guitar tracks were laid down with my white Strat. This is based on an instrumental version of 'Santa Claus Is Coming To Town' recorded by Booker T and the MG's that was on a Christmas CD that my wife got from a client back when she was working for an ad agency. There's a couple of good tunes on that CD but this is my favorite. I like the way it grooves. ;)

Facebook

Been a while since I last posted here... Just got turned on to Facebook by the guys in the band, click on the badge to the right to become my friend, if you're so inclined. (There's lots to see, I also posted a pic of my new guitar on my wall... :P) Anyways, I'll be playing @ the Black Stuff (15, Val de Hamm, Luxembourg) this coming Saturday with Radio Daze, do drop by. Hope to see ya there...

Whatever

Another quick one for tonight. Here's an instrumental piece that I wrote on keys. A rare event by all accounts :P.

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To All My Homies

This is all I got to say today...

Various Recording Endeavours

I spent the whole day in bed and missed tonight's rehearsal on account of a bug. I began feeling queasy yesterday, when I took the afternoon off from work and drove to Folschette to lay down my guitar parts. I think it went down okay, although I did struggle with the solo's. It was good to have Mel up in the control room to give some pointers. Couldn't use my Fuzz Factory 'cause it picked up radio interference, which was disappointing, but to my luck, Mel brought along his Little Big Muff (I think I might get one... :P). That's the only effect I had. It sounds really meaty and seems to cut nicely through the mix. I didn't feel my playing was stellar and didn't have a chance to hear it afterwards. Zsolt was already there to the basslines another shot and I was already unwell... I just remembered that I recorded some short video on my phone the first time we were there. I might put it up on you tube tomorrow, as I won't have much else to do. Anyway, I still can't see the end of our little sessions up there. Mark still has to do his keyboards and then come the vocals, mixing... It's going to cost us ;). [edit] I almost forgot to mention this: remember that I said Jacques' drumming on Sunday Driver was uneven? Well, it seemed to be gone once Mel put down his guitar. I can't trust my senses anymore :P.

On another note, I also finished off a song that I began recording sometime last year, using my little Fender Champ. It's a knock-off of 'Green Onions', I just love that riff to death. I now added drums and a Rhodes track (including a cheeky solo) to the two guitar tracks and bass that were already done. I'm really pleased with the overall sound of the result, it's really raunchy. Check it out:

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I'm also working to finish some other stuff. Watch this space... Toodeloo!

Studio D

We spent Saturday up in Folschette with the band recording our demo. The studio itself is a cool place, set up in an old farm building in the village. The room has a good sound, as far as I can tell. Yves Ditsch, who was manning the console for the day was very helpful and friendly, we got good coffee and such. Two thumbs up for the facilities and service. We went in to record 4 songs: 'Let's Pop', 'Oceanbound', 'Sunday Driver' and 'Too Much Room'. The drums went down real quick, kudos to Jacques for that, although his playing on Sunday Driver is a bit uneven. We were done so fast that we decided to lay down a fifth track, a cover of 'Psycho Killer' by Talking Heads. However, we hit the big hurdle when recording the bass. [edit] It really is too bad, we got off to such a good start. I decided to put down two rhythm tracks before we left. I was pretty happy with the one I did for Oceanbound and Sunday Driver was okay. (Before anyone accuses me of being too hard on the others and not being as critical towards my own work, I only recorded easy-peasy things that day, we'll see how I will fare with the hard stuff, like the vocals and lead lines...) At least I didn't bring all my stuff along for nothing but on the whole, I was pretty disappointed with what we achieved that day. On the up side, I was really pleased with the sound I got out of my amp (a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe). I used the "clean" channel. With the volume up about half way, I got a nice, well defined, crunchy tone. Too bad I can't have this setup live right now, it's just too loud. I'm looking at attenuators, but I'm not sure if they're worth the investment. After all, I can use the "drive" channel or my DS-1 and get close (kind of). I've been looking at the THD Hot Plates and Bad Cat's 'The Leash'. I hope the shops here in Luxembourg have something. I want to try before I buy. That's one of the downers in living in a small place like this, it's often hard to find the gear you need (want) without resorting to extensive travel or the internet...