26 posts
who's up for a 17 minute jam???? :-X
one shot at both bass and guitar (shows more on the bass... heh) - drums added after.
bass is basspodxt. guitar is usual strat (with new copper plated innards for less noise and fresh fret job - woot) -> machine -> '69 -> BB -> flexi (retubed... AT input, AU boost, AX driver... a little less mushing out)
anyway, here's the monstrosity... some nice moments, too much wankery and, in general, an E chord. think of it as a medley of all the songs on my new CD! (lol)
http://www.ironsheep.com/mp3/ironsheep/Media/verylongjam.mp3
Ok, I'm a few minutes in but I have to ask while I listen...
You have 3 gain pedals on? :o :o :)
only briefly! the charger box of omg isn't so much a gain pedal though... it's more of a... box of omg.
the first and last minue or so is kinda meh... warm up/cool down ;)
(also, thanks for taking the punishment... er, listening to it)
Just listening now. Liking from 3:30 so far...nice groove going on. See you in 15 minutes
Well, that was a wank and a half :). In a good way. Just the sort of thing that I like. It sounds "alive" which is why I always prefer live recordings over studio multi tracked recordings any day. To me, once you put multi tracked and layered guitars into the pot is loses all "life" and the. Just sounds manufactured. I love spontaneous playing. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, but when it does work it's great.
Good stuff.
thanks! yeah, I like this format a lot better than "songs" and all that... more fun to do, certainly, but also a lot less "manufactured". has an artisanal quality... now I need to work on being more of an artisan in this regard! :)
I'm planning to listen when I have 17 uninterrupted minutes... later tonight...
first order of business for me... work on being concise! 17 minutes is too long for sure.
but... I think, if I have something in mind instead of winging everything, this form could work out. or, at least, be the way to practice generating music that has some kind of building and variation rather than ABABCAB things. even if it was an AB type thing, it would be better with natural variations and flow rather than DAW inspired sections with standard lengths.
anyways, trying to overcome some of my limitations when it comes to the big picture of a tune/song - this seems a little promising as a way to do it.
ironsheep — Nov 07, 2013first order of business for me... work on being concise! 17 minutes is too long for sure.
but... I think, if I have something in mind instead of winging everything, this form could work out. or, at least, be the way to practice generating music that has some kind of building and variation rather than ABABCAB things. even if it was an AB type thing, it would be better with natural variations and flow rather than DAW inspired sections with standard lengths.
anyways, trying to overcome some of my limitations when it comes to the big picture of a tune/song - this seems a little promising as a way to do it.
Yeah. I think the best way forward (for me at least) is to have a loose structure of a song idea scoped out on paper in simple terms of bars and chord progressions and then just play that (including solos etc) along to a very simple drum track. Then add the bass to fit and finally replace the drum track with something that adds weight to the entire "song" and really lifts it. I find that inspiration only strikes when actually playing and that going the multitrack route of layering guitars etc just makes everything sound so predictable and completely lacks the "life" that a performance needs. Don't forget also that it doesn't matter if you make huge blunders in the "live" take as you can simply punch-in on the affected parts later to polish it. It's a much more satisfying way of making music for me.
I always prefer listening to "Jams" rather than technically scoped out multi-tracked songs.....I find them rigid and boring.
So, keep it up and just work out some guideline structure on paper first and then adapt as your Jamming progresses, then go back and fix any bum notes etc after, which although is cheating, still keeps the urgent "live" feel to the whole thing.
ironsheep — Nov 07, 2013first order of business for me... work on being concise! 17 minutes is too long for sure.
but... I think, if I have something in mind instead of winging everything, this form could work out. or, at least, be the way to practice generating music that has some kind of building and variation rather than ABABCAB things. even if it was an AB type thing, it would be better with natural variations and flow rather than DAW inspired sections with standard lengths.
anyways, trying to overcome some of my limitations when it comes to the big picture of a tune/song - this seems a little promising as a way to do it.
Nah, I think the form is fine... I have been doing a weekly jam for years where we jam for 2-3 hours, record everything, mix it down, and post to the web. 20-minute jams are not unusual in that format. What would be huge would be if you had some other musicians to jam with you, you could create a 50-60 minute album in one take...
I'm only 5 minutes in but I love it so far...
The playing is really inspired, I never get bored of listening to it. The drummer actually sounds like he's improvising a bit, must be a jam setting in superior drummer or something? I liked a couple of points where it cleaned up a little, all the nice changes of pace. Great stuff, some really fiery playing in there, sounded inspired. Listening again...
cool, glad you're liking it! one thing I want to do more of is go mellow (and go wanky a lot less) - if nothing else, it creates major contrasts within the whole thing... and keeps it more interesting - never know when things will turn doomy or go bananas... that sort of thing. need more chordal areas too - my favorite part of this one was the chromatic breakdown thing... kind of a fixation at the moment, but I dig that for some reason. on the drums... that's the stock NirZ midi from Superior - just using bits from different "songs" to vary it and trying to adjust velocity a bit to make sense/add realism. I could really use more of that kind of midi... but I haven't gotten around to searching it out - almost exhausted what I have.
also, this gives me some goals for the first time in a long time... it's something to develop riffs for, practice, etc.
Jon, I agree on all fronts really -- thinking about songs I like, the ones that I never get tired of are almost all live tracks... or sound like it. scott henderson, beck's brush with the blues, even opeth stuff - the live CD gets more play around here than the studio albums. there are some exceptions... but mostly, yeah. how the west was won... another good example.
I do think I'll eventually add more guitars and things, though. I like building choruses... don't want to give up the ebow and slide kinda crap just yet! heh. but I'll have to do them way more spontaneously in the future... no planning! scary and liberating at the same time.
I've downloaded it (and added it to my "Ironsheep Collection" :D ), but I haven't had time to listen yet.
That said, I think a song should be as long as it needs to be. Some are meant to be 3:11 affairs and others are meant to be 20 minute epics. Changing either to fit some predefined limitation is bad IMO. :)
so, wait a sec...
I have been doing a weekly jam for years where we jam for 2-3 hours, record everything, mix it down, and post to the web
did miss the place to watch for these or are they a "just for participants" kinda thing?
pretty much agree craig... but we may not see eye to eye on what a "song" is... ;) ;D
ironsheep — Nov 07, 2013so, wait a sec...
I have been doing a weekly jam for years where we jam for 2-3 hours, record everything, mix it down, and post to the web
did miss the place to watch for these or are they a "just for participants" kinda thing?
For the most part, you really only want to listen to these if you were there... the range of skills on the instruments is very wide. But feel free:
http://www.toddridgway.com/ThursdayJam/
only listened to 01.10.13 so far (quick check in) and it's... beyond awesome. wow, very very cool!
...and 01.10.13.B is even cooler. man, this is great stuff!
I'm guessing every day that isn't thursday is sort of a drag because of this. heh, happy thursday!
ironsheep — Nov 07, 2013only listened to 01.10.13 so far (quick check in) and it's... beyond awesome. wow, very very cool!
...and 01.10.13.B is even cooler. man, this is great stuff!
I like the last one from that date (L)... It's hard to even remember what's worth listening to... that one gets pretty good. one guy actually listens to everything and ranks it, lists good spots etc... but it's really all we can do to mix it all down and make edits that roughly correspond to sections of the jam. There is a real range of guitar players and drummers, and we all switch off instruments throughout so it keeps it interesting, but not always musical.
catching some of the skill range aspect now... but still very cool - thanks for the link, this is very inspirational listening!
ironsheep — Nov 07, 2013catching some of the skill range aspect now... but still very cool - thanks for the link, this is very inspirational listening!
Yeah, this is a good example of how it sometimes goes... slow start, then it gets going pretty well, then it kind of trails off, then someone turns on the massive bass distortion + envelope filter... this is Mike on guitar, who is a pretty badass player, and me on drums... those are the only players I'm sure of. and 16 minutes plus...
http://www.toddridgway.com/ThursdayJam/05.16.13/05.16.13.M.mp3
If you're ever in northern california, make sure you're here on a thursday...
that one's killer! I got through A-G then skipped to L in the other group - can't pick a favorite, enjoyed them all. there was one where someone started a questionable riff... and someone else came in behind it with a wash of chords that made it sound totally perfect. just too cool.
dude, these tracks are so damn real, I'm loving it! cliche-free music... all things I've never heard before... great sounds too btw!
pilgrimage to norcal... unlikely for this hermit but, if I'm ever nearby (like, west of the mississippi in terms of near), I will be there on a thursday! lol.
you should come to a bertstock. This is what Charger and Matt do.
This track I'm listening to now would be EASY to jam over. Like it!
DreamTheaterRules — Nov 07, 2013you should come to a bertstock. This is what Charger and Matt do.
This track I'm listening to now would be EASY to jam over. Like it!
Dude, we NEED to make another bertstock happen.