Music, Freelancing, Art, Ideas

Don’t Worry, I’m Yours

Wow this is cool! I’m looking to pick up the smaller version of this drum to use in my compositions, this guy rocks though.

An all time favorite of mine from Stanley Clarke.

This is my latest idea for a motif in a new song with the band. It’s a short sound clip, but I’m hoping to expand it into a complete song with other movements/motifs. This is very much a work-in-progress. That being said I’d encourage any ideas/feedback that you might have (leave it here or at SoundCloud).

The track is me looped with my bass-guitar, playing with a pure tone, through a phaser and through a chorus pedal for different layers.

Andy McKee

This is just too cool – I love it when people can play an acoustic instrument percussively (thanks to Jordan for sending this my way):

Evan Marien

Evan has an upcoming solo album due out this year – “Between Worlds.” He is also a Learn the Low End professor and has posted some fantastic courses based around phrasing (which I think is one of the most important aspects to soloing). See more on Evan at http://evanmarien.com

Bryan Beller

This music section has become a little bass-centric, but that’s ok Bryan is another solo bassist who has some really cool music out there. Be sure to check him out at http://bryanbeller.com

Steve Uccello

Steve is another bassist I’ve gotten to work with through Learn the Low End and has some incredible looping work that creates a highly textural music experience. I picked up a copy of his latest album Symmetria and absolutely love it! You should do the same Also be sure to check out his lessons at Learn the Low End! You can catch more on Steve at http://steveuccello.com/

Damian Erskine

Simply put, Damian is incredible. Not only is a phenomenal bass player but he is one of the cooler people I’ve gotten to know. You need to check him out at http://www.damianerskine.com – he’s got a new album coming out in October 2009 and also has lessons posted on Learn the Low End!

Madonna: A Case Study

“What do you really want to do when you grow up?” “Rule the world,” Madonna replied. That is a rather bold statement, or vision, for a newcomer with basically no connections and financial power. Back then no one would have thought that that grungy mid-twenties rebel would become the Queen of Pop one decade later. Madonna had a clear vision. She wanted to rule the world, or at least the world of entertainment. In order to reach the throne of the Queen of Pop she knew that she had to be disciplined, continuously driven, and other dimensions of her life had to be either subordinate or absorbed into her career goals.

This is a really interesting case-study by Sebastiano Mereu on his wordpress blog. Worth checking out for anyone looking for inspiration on how to handle the commercial music business.

http://sebinomics.wordpress.com/2009/09/09/madonna-a-case-study/

In Bb 2.0

This is just cool – play any of the videos in any order at any time. It’s a free-form (ish) modal improvisation with a large group, I thought it was awesome.

http://inbflat.net/

Caravan of Thieves

I missed these guys when they came to Cleveland, but their MySpace page makes it look like they put on quite a show! It’s always nice to see a band that focuses on their live performance as well as their music. The genre is acoustic/swing/melodramatic and includes lots of stringed instruments and banging on various objects.

http://www.myspace.com/caravanofthieves