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In the late Eighties, I got together with a couple of friends in the forming of a 'band'. Before we could get beyond a few experimental recordings -- we would simply set things up and start rolling tape -- in 1991 my fiancee pulled something worse than 'a Yoko', leaving me for another member of our little trio. Not only did she break up the band, but she took a close friend away from us.
Gary was gracious enough to give up all rights to the existing material, so now Patrick and I can do whatever we want with it. So far, that has amounted to bupkis. However, since that time, technology has caught up with us. All we have to do is get the material from cassette to digital...
...and then we can grab those occasional brilliant bits and use them as the basis for several brilliant tracks. There is at least one, for that matter, that can stand on its own.
Meanwhile, Patrick has been producing music using computers, gathering all the necessary software and pumping out some very interesting stuff -- that he mostly keeps to himself. For my part, a few years ago I bought a bass guitar...
...but then, after idly messing around with it for a while, I came up with a new concept for how to play a bass that, quite frankly, intimidates me. I can hear how it will sound, in my head, but I haven't attempted it. In fact, my red & white Peavy Fury (named Christine, after Stephen King's Plymouth Fury) has been largely confined to her case ever since.
Oh sure, I found a site where I could compose music online, and created a track that some of you reading this have heard. Big deal. I like it, and my son likes it, but that track will go down as a footnote if anyone remembers it at all. The program was very limited. I did my best, at the time...
Yes, it is possible for one person to author music and make it successful. Dave Grohl, for example, after drumming with Nirvana wrote all the music and played all the instruments for the first Foo Fighters album. The thing is, it really really helps to have someone else there to tell you whether it's any good, and/or to add something. There is a reason that we (mostly) listen to music created by bands rather than by solitary composers.
Not that I know what it will sound like, exactly, but Patrick and I have been talking about collaborating on new music for quite a while now. There is, of course, apprehension, as we know it will take untold hours and the creative process will temporarily eclipse everything else in our lives.
Tension builds. This fall, Patrick and I will have known one another for 25 years. A quarter-century is nothing to sneeze at. When my kids are back in school at the end of August, I'll have some time alone in the house to finally approach my so-far-conceptual bass method without interruption.
Actually I may try to tackle it before then, or at least grab hold of it and wrestle it to the ground. We'll see...
One may think that a slacker like me would have plenty of time for creative endeavours, but you have no idea of the demands on my existence that keep me busy. I'm the only driver in a family of five, for one thing...
One thing is clear: When we have music to share, it will be available at no cost, downloadable from whatever site we set up. Not that we won't pursue CD sales, but Patrick and I both feel that copyrights and litigation are bullshit. It may be a while, but you may eventually find a link in this space to some mind-blowing ear candy.
Phil Smith
July 16, 2007
Gary was gracious enough to give up all rights to the existing material, so now Patrick and I can do whatever we want with it. So far, that has amounted to bupkis. However, since that time, technology has caught up with us. All we have to do is get the material from cassette to digital...
...and then we can grab those occasional brilliant bits and use them as the basis for several brilliant tracks. There is at least one, for that matter, that can stand on its own.
Meanwhile, Patrick has been producing music using computers, gathering all the necessary software and pumping out some very interesting stuff -- that he mostly keeps to himself. For my part, a few years ago I bought a bass guitar...
...but then, after idly messing around with it for a while, I came up with a new concept for how to play a bass that, quite frankly, intimidates me. I can hear how it will sound, in my head, but I haven't attempted it. In fact, my red & white Peavy Fury (named Christine, after Stephen King's Plymouth Fury) has been largely confined to her case ever since.
Oh sure, I found a site where I could compose music online, and created a track that some of you reading this have heard. Big deal. I like it, and my son likes it, but that track will go down as a footnote if anyone remembers it at all. The program was very limited. I did my best, at the time...
Yes, it is possible for one person to author music and make it successful. Dave Grohl, for example, after drumming with Nirvana wrote all the music and played all the instruments for the first Foo Fighters album. The thing is, it really really helps to have someone else there to tell you whether it's any good, and/or to add something. There is a reason that we (mostly) listen to music created by bands rather than by solitary composers.
Not that I know what it will sound like, exactly, but Patrick and I have been talking about collaborating on new music for quite a while now. There is, of course, apprehension, as we know it will take untold hours and the creative process will temporarily eclipse everything else in our lives.
Tension builds. This fall, Patrick and I will have known one another for 25 years. A quarter-century is nothing to sneeze at. When my kids are back in school at the end of August, I'll have some time alone in the house to finally approach my so-far-conceptual bass method without interruption.
Actually I may try to tackle it before then, or at least grab hold of it and wrestle it to the ground. We'll see...
One may think that a slacker like me would have plenty of time for creative endeavours, but you have no idea of the demands on my existence that keep me busy. I'm the only driver in a family of five, for one thing...
One thing is clear: When we have music to share, it will be available at no cost, downloadable from whatever site we set up. Not that we won't pursue CD sales, but Patrick and I both feel that copyrights and litigation are bullshit. It may be a while, but you may eventually find a link in this space to some mind-blowing ear candy.
Phil Smith
July 16, 2007
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