Category Archives: original music - Page 7

my fake open mic night and filling gaps

Posted by on April 9, 2009 No comments

i have been spending a lot of time doing the nit-picky stuff on the body of my kit guitar. there were mistakes. some were minor and some were pretty evil. nothing that anyone who wasn’t looking would find. none of the items that are currently under my scrutiny should affect the sound of the final instrument, but again, this is about learning.

and learning, i am!

lots of detail work is showing me, well, how wood really behaves. i’m seeing what the tolerances are and what i can expect when i screw something. figuring out how to cover gaps or gouges has been fun. well, not fun, but it’s a nice skill to develop (note that i don’t have it yet).

there is a new sketch this week. i don’t know where the semi-faux-spanish feel originated, but it’s definitely there. very few takes. in fact, these are starting to feel like one of those weird open mic nights where you make the last minute decision to do something new just for kicks and wind up not really practicing but getting on stage anyway. maybe i’ll write more about that later as i think the improvisatory nature of how i put these things together is a lot of fun.

there’s a pretty big pile of sketches accumulating on my disk, so i’m thinking that maybe it’s time to start culling the herd and fleshing out some of them. after all, these are just quick sketches and not finished songs. far from it. maybe another week or two.

enjoy!

sketch-06-apr-2009

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sketch 06 apr 2009 by j.c. wilson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at www.othertime.com.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://othertime.com.

tunage on tuesday

Posted by on March 17, 2009 No comments

it’s a little early and that rules! i’ve been enjoying some quality time getting stuff done. more about that later in the week. time in the studio has been great. i’m getting a solid hour every night and like i’ve said, when you think about that hour all day long, it can be really, really productive.

of great import is the birth of a baby boy to my good friends rekabutt and mahrens. congrats, my friends! let the games begin! i might be the only person you know who won’t give you any unsolicited advice about dealing with wee beasties. good luck and enjoy him!

without any further ado, here’s this week’s sketch.
sketch-16-mar-2009

Creative Commons License
sketch 16 mar 2009 by j.c. wilson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at www.othertime.com.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://othertime.com.

it’s a short week (for me!)

Posted by on March 11, 2009 No comments

so this week i am taking friday off. that makes tomorrow a faux friday! in the spirit of getting things done early, i am posting new tunes tonight.

i don’t think that i can go on and on enough about how much i love having a hollow body electric guitar in my life. i always thought that i was more of a strat guy but looking back on my style and what i played as opposed to what i liked listening to, i really should have made the switch much sooner.

this tune is quick and simple. there is something about turning the lights off, cranking up the reverb, and letting go. i can only imagine this one being played in an empty bar in my home town on a frozen winter night. i miss those days sometimes.

enjoy the tune and drop me a line if you dig it.

sketch-11 mar 2009

Creative Commons License
sketch 11 mar 2009 by j.c. wilson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at www.othertime.com.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://othertime.com.

keeping pace

Posted by on February 26, 2009 No comments

i will freely admit that i’m not particularly pleased with this week’s offering. but this isn’t about the inner critic getting his swipes in. this is about getting it done. this tune has very little resemblance to what i started with. let’s just say that there was a lot more banjo and a lot less electric guitar. when you swap those two, something very different will emerge.

all irritations aside, i think that the tune has legs. it just needs a little (lot) of work. dig it below.

something to know about hollow body guitars: they are a great place to store linky doos. i’ve been playing the guitar for many, many years and had no idea that they could serve this purpose. the things our children teach us!

linky doo guitar

linky doo guitar

also of some import, i got more of the bracing done on my building project. it’s really coming along. i need to make a trip to ye olde woodworking shoppe this weekend to get some supplies but i’d say i’m closer to finishing this project than i was a week ago. um. yep!

more bracing...

more bracing...

try to enjoy this week’s tune and if you don’t dig it…well…yeah. it happens.

sketch-26-2009

Creative Commons License
sketch 26 feb 2009 by j.c. wilson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at www.othertime.com.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://othertime.com.

discipline

Posted by on February 19, 2009 No comments

it feels really good at the end of the day to have something to show for your work. the downer is that you really have to put the time in. even if it’s an hour a night. take me back 10 or 15 years and i’d laugh at the idea that an hour can make a difference, but it does. it makes all of the difference.

what makes that hour work for me is that i think about it all day. when there is no guitar around and no access to musical expression i find that i think about it more and more. this means that when i do hit the studio my mind is focused even if my hands aren’t quite there. music is mostly a mental game and realizing that can go a long way toward improving one’s output. it really works for me. the results of this week’s sessions is at the bottom of the post.

something that i did for myself this week was pick up two books on beginning and intermediate jazz guitar. both of them are by jody fisher. SG is confused as to why i’m messing around with them. “you went to your fanci conservatory. you already know that stuff, right?” yeah, but that isn’t really the point of the exercise.

the author of “zen guitar” mentions that we must each “put on the white belt.” that is to say, assume the role of the novice and open ourselves to learning. i want to start with something brutally simple and see what i have missed or forgotten. studying my instrument is a passion and i want to feed it. what better way than to focus on the beginning?

i’ll let you know how it goes. maybe i’ll make that my tuesday post…a jazz guitar progress update. i’m starting to sound like my buddy rande. ok. it’s a done deal. tuesdays i will update my progress and thursdays will remain sketch days.

stay focused.

here’s the latest sketch. drop me a line and let me know what you think if you get a second.

sketch-18-feb-2009

Creative Commons License
sketch 18-feb-2009 by j.c. wilson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at www.othertime.com.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://othertime.com.