i was able to dig up some old stuff that i did with my previous band as sort of marker of where i was before i started this project. the music was written by myself and arrangement was done together by the band at the time over the course of this past year. the recordings were done this past august. check them out here: http://www.myspace.com/myeverest
hopefully i will be able to notice some growth or maybe some patterns that i fall into when writing. one thing that i did notice is my amp tone. at the time, i liked it. but now it sounds a bit too grainy and electronic. the new turbo rat should fix that up.
its raining very loud.
bhurin
playlist:
explosions in the sky - friday night lights
explosions in the sky - the earth is not a cold dead place
myeverest - old demos
thrice - vheissu
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
ah, more thinking
i had a conversation at work with one of my good friends about one of our favorite artist's solo side project. although it is a solo project, his bandmates played the backing instruments. we started talking about how this could have come up. maybe the singer wrote all the parts and just needed people more proficient at the other instruments to play them for the record, which we believe is the case. my friend asked me if i could recognize the singer just based on his lyrics. the lyrics are different than what he would've wrote for his main band. i told him that i could probably sit down and figure out it was him just by the language and style he uses. then i told him the same goes for the guitarist. on the solo album, i could tell that the guitarist from the band was playing the majority of the lead. it was the style, the way the notes were slurred, the preciseness, or the different accents on certain notes that led me to believe it was that guitarist.
so i was thinking back to the wong article about the asian american performance and more specifically jazz performance. in the article, wong mentions that come asian american jazz artists can pick out whether or not a player is asian american or not just by the playing style. maybe this is the same case for the guitarist mentioned above who happens to be japanese american. his style was precise, exact, and present. there was a little jazzy feel to it, almost souful. what would happen if we were to have jimi hendrix or even slash, both black guitarists, play the same melody on the guitar. we would definitely be able to distinguish the player, but would we be able to distinguish the race?
rock music hasn't been too much in the itinerary for asian american studies. but if rock music was also a cultural product of the black community, would this be enough to consider it along the same lines of jazz and hip hop?
just a few thoughts.
bhurin
playlist:
circa survive - juturna
darkest hour - undoing ruin
elbow - leaders of the free world
so i was thinking back to the wong article about the asian american performance and more specifically jazz performance. in the article, wong mentions that come asian american jazz artists can pick out whether or not a player is asian american or not just by the playing style. maybe this is the same case for the guitarist mentioned above who happens to be japanese american. his style was precise, exact, and present. there was a little jazzy feel to it, almost souful. what would happen if we were to have jimi hendrix or even slash, both black guitarists, play the same melody on the guitar. we would definitely be able to distinguish the player, but would we be able to distinguish the race?
rock music hasn't been too much in the itinerary for asian american studies. but if rock music was also a cultural product of the black community, would this be enough to consider it along the same lines of jazz and hip hop?
just a few thoughts.
bhurin
playlist:
circa survive - juturna
darkest hour - undoing ruin
elbow - leaders of the free world
Monday, November 27, 2006
and just a little bit more
as i was driving back to work after writing the last post, it made me think some more. maybe the question that i've been asking is begging for greater application. maybe it isn't so much the fact that popular media is distorting music. maybe that's what popular media functions as. its a different lense. and for myself to judge popular media in such a way is also a lense. but the true meaning behind this all is the actual music and our own interpretation of it. and this is what the project is about.
in bruce lee's tao of jeet kune do, bruce explains that the action is more than just the actor. the action being the event that has taken place, or in our case a song, melody, or rhythm. the actor being those that contribute to the action, which in our case is the musician. bruce explains it in terms of combat, but it is easily translatable to music or any kind of art form. what we see is the emphasis on the actor and not the action. maybe we live in an era in which ownership, fear, and reward are stressed over the actual product.
take my workplace for example. our little community is based around the idea of fear. everyone is more interested in creating and placing blame on individuals whenever a problem occurs. all focus and energy is spent on this that when it comes to the actual problem, we find that it rarely gets done in a timely matter.
a month ago i saw a special on pbs about the mystery behind andy warhol. andy played a very bland character every time he was interviewed. he never once showed any sort of character. in fact, many of the interviewers told the special that he was boring to interview, that he never showed emotion. but maybe andy is thinking of the exact same thing as we're talking about here. the importance of the art should take precedence over the acclaim of the artist. we can find meaning and understanding in the artist through their work and not necessarily through their escapades through the bars and red carpets.
and its hard to judge, because we all want to get to know our favorite musician or artist, but maybe the first place we need to look is in the actual art. who they are will eventually enter into the work.
bhurin
playlist:
dustin kensrue - please come home
dredg - leitmotif
in bruce lee's tao of jeet kune do, bruce explains that the action is more than just the actor. the action being the event that has taken place, or in our case a song, melody, or rhythm. the actor being those that contribute to the action, which in our case is the musician. bruce explains it in terms of combat, but it is easily translatable to music or any kind of art form. what we see is the emphasis on the actor and not the action. maybe we live in an era in which ownership, fear, and reward are stressed over the actual product.
take my workplace for example. our little community is based around the idea of fear. everyone is more interested in creating and placing blame on individuals whenever a problem occurs. all focus and energy is spent on this that when it comes to the actual problem, we find that it rarely gets done in a timely matter.
a month ago i saw a special on pbs about the mystery behind andy warhol. andy played a very bland character every time he was interviewed. he never once showed any sort of character. in fact, many of the interviewers told the special that he was boring to interview, that he never showed emotion. but maybe andy is thinking of the exact same thing as we're talking about here. the importance of the art should take precedence over the acclaim of the artist. we can find meaning and understanding in the artist through their work and not necessarily through their escapades through the bars and red carpets.
and its hard to judge, because we all want to get to know our favorite musician or artist, but maybe the first place we need to look is in the actual art. who they are will eventually enter into the work.
bhurin
playlist:
dustin kensrue - please come home
dredg - leitmotif
just a little bit
i was watching an interview of brian eno and his reasons behind writing instrumental music. when we think of instrumental music, we assume that there won't be any vocals done on the songs. for the most part, its true. however, brian eno suggests that we can use voice as an instrument and still make the song instrumental. the voice as an instrument should not distract from the rest of the elements in the song. when we think of pop songs, the vocals take center stage while everything around it plays a part to make it shine. the vocals also contribute more than just a melody, it contributes a character and attitude of the artist performing the voice. popular media focuses and surrounds the artists and this becomes problematic. there is greater emphasis placed upon the artist than the actual product. we can take any pop artist as an example of this case. the popular media is more worried about who is with who, how much one weighs, and how much bling is around their neck that we lose focus on what really matters or at least what matters to me: the artistic product.
eno explains that if we take the persona away from the song, we can really see the essence of the song. for a while, eno thought that to do this, he had to eliminate the vocals from the song entirely. but he missed the soul of the voice and wanted to reintroduce it into his work. so he tracked some vocals, added effects, and mixed it in so that it blends in with the rest of the instruments.
i'm not sure if this is the solution to the problem, but it is one way to get there. listening to instrumental music for the past few weeks, i do miss the soul of the voice in songs. there is a deeper connection and instant gratification with songs with voice in it. maybe there's a way to still use vocals without it being too distracting. but maybe there isn't. or maybe the problem isn't in the songwriting but in popular media and its power to influence. maybe it could be the array of radio stations that play the same songs every two hours. or maybe video killed the radio star. or maybe radio is a sound salvation. maybe we just need to break out of the daily routine of listening to what we're told and find alternative ways to express ourselves as music listeners.
just a few thoughts to start the day. more writing to come later tonight.
bhurin
playlist:
dustin kensrue - please come home
pinback - summer in abaddon
modest mouse - the lonesome crowded west
eno explains that if we take the persona away from the song, we can really see the essence of the song. for a while, eno thought that to do this, he had to eliminate the vocals from the song entirely. but he missed the soul of the voice and wanted to reintroduce it into his work. so he tracked some vocals, added effects, and mixed it in so that it blends in with the rest of the instruments.
i'm not sure if this is the solution to the problem, but it is one way to get there. listening to instrumental music for the past few weeks, i do miss the soul of the voice in songs. there is a deeper connection and instant gratification with songs with voice in it. maybe there's a way to still use vocals without it being too distracting. but maybe there isn't. or maybe the problem isn't in the songwriting but in popular media and its power to influence. maybe it could be the array of radio stations that play the same songs every two hours. or maybe video killed the radio star. or maybe radio is a sound salvation. maybe we just need to break out of the daily routine of listening to what we're told and find alternative ways to express ourselves as music listeners.
just a few thoughts to start the day. more writing to come later tonight.
bhurin
playlist:
dustin kensrue - please come home
pinback - summer in abaddon
modest mouse - the lonesome crowded west
Friday, November 24, 2006
glitchy
i worked on some drum programming on reason yesterday. i wanted to try to get a simple pattern so that i can play keyboards over it. it sounds ok right now, but i think i need to tweak the drum sounds a bit. they sound too electronic/perfect for my ears, maybe i'll edit the deterioration on it or smack a filter on top. i'll work on it more.
then i started working on a glitch drum fill. kind of like the drum sounds in electronic music. this got tricky since i had to scale down to the 1/64 count. so all the quarter notes for my snare were really spread out. i'm going to try to work more on this one today. i'd like to use this sort of drum fill as a break in a song or an intro to give it a little more dynamic.
i'm going to try to lay down some keyboard ideas on these drum tracks. good thing reason has a huge soundbank of keyboards. yay rhodes piano.
bhurin
playlist:
the album leaf - into the blue again
then i started working on a glitch drum fill. kind of like the drum sounds in electronic music. this got tricky since i had to scale down to the 1/64 count. so all the quarter notes for my snare were really spread out. i'm going to try to work more on this one today. i'd like to use this sort of drum fill as a break in a song or an intro to give it a little more dynamic.
i'm going to try to lay down some keyboard ideas on these drum tracks. good thing reason has a huge soundbank of keyboards. yay rhodes piano.
bhurin
playlist:
the album leaf - into the blue again
Thursday, November 23, 2006
back to the drawing board
its been a while since i've done any work on my music. i've been busy with an out of town show, but everything is back to normal now. i just wanted to check in and lay out the next few days. i'm going to be mostly working in reason with some drum beats and piano fills. i'm down in houston visiting my folks, so i don't have my guitar handy, which may be a good thing. it'll make me write music differently than i normally do. i think for some of the tracks these next few days, i really want to try picturing/hearing the melody in my head and making it work on the keyboard. we'll see how that goes.
i did get a chance to listen to some of my older tracks that i first recorded during the beginning of the project. i can picture more things happening or really letting parts play out. i remember discussing a creative process with a friend and how letting ideas soak in for a few days or even weeks allows you to see it differently and really dig into it. guess it sort of worked!
bhurin
playlist:
thrice - vheissu
strike anywhere - change is a sound
denizen kane - tree city legends volume 2
the doors - the very best of the doors
i did get a chance to listen to some of my older tracks that i first recorded during the beginning of the project. i can picture more things happening or really letting parts play out. i remember discussing a creative process with a friend and how letting ideas soak in for a few days or even weeks allows you to see it differently and really dig into it. guess it sort of worked!
bhurin
playlist:
thrice - vheissu
strike anywhere - change is a sound
denizen kane - tree city legends volume 2
the doors - the very best of the doors
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
simple and jazzy
didn't get a chance to play today. but i did get to listen to some music and chat with one of my friends about song writing. he mentioned that there should be space in a song where feeling is emphasized over straight up riffing. i'm used to doing something on the guitar, like riffing nonstop, to fill the space. but maybe trying simple chords over a sweeter and simpler lead would do just the trick. throw in a few filters and atmospheric sounds and there you have it.
probably won't get to play that much the next few days, but i'll definitely be listening to music to hopefully get new ideas and the such. for now, just keeping track of today's rotation.
bhurin
playlist:
coldplay - x&y
sufjan stevens - seven swans
explosions in the sky - how strange, innocence
jeff buckley - grace
no knife - fire in the city of automatons!
killswitch engage - as daylight dies
isis - in the absense of truth
probably won't get to play that much the next few days, but i'll definitely be listening to music to hopefully get new ideas and the such. for now, just keeping track of today's rotation.
bhurin
playlist:
coldplay - x&y
sufjan stevens - seven swans
explosions in the sky - how strange, innocence
jeff buckley - grace
no knife - fire in the city of automatons!
killswitch engage - as daylight dies
isis - in the absense of truth
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
repairs and reason
headstock repair, success! at least i think so. i still need to set up the strings and see if the glue is going to hold the break. otherwise, taylor guitars here i come! (granted i win the lottery)
some more writing and improvising were done today. i threw down a couple of guitar tracks and then went into reason to try to pull together a decent drum track. didn't turn out too bad. i'll have to mess around with reason more to get the hang of it. the sounds i was getting today were video game-ish and there was a hint of isis near the end of the track. i was also able to hook up the midi keyboard and play with the synth sounds garageband has preinstalled. its weird how certain kinds of influences come out despite what you've been listening to all day. i think tomorrow i'm going to try to do some off time signature riffing. math rock anyone? hopefully that will help break up the 4/4 monotony that i've been falling into.
a lot of my tones sound the same and i need to start experimenting with dynamics and timbre more. found out that garageband has a few filters on it and reason is full of them, so that will help out. also on reason are a bunch of drum samples. i was reading that thrice's last album, there was drum sequencing done. but they sampled their drummer playing and did some effects editting and programming from those samples. maybe i can try that out. oh, and it'd be cool too to try dave grohl's method of tracking drums. i'll have to read up more on that.
i took some pictures today of my guitar, amp, and pedalboard. i'll post those on flickr sometime this week. until then, cheers.
bhurin
playlist:
cold war kids - robbers and cowards
doves - some cities
miles davis - kind of blue
led zeppelin - led zeppelin ii
the mercury program - a data learn the language
some more writing and improvising were done today. i threw down a couple of guitar tracks and then went into reason to try to pull together a decent drum track. didn't turn out too bad. i'll have to mess around with reason more to get the hang of it. the sounds i was getting today were video game-ish and there was a hint of isis near the end of the track. i was also able to hook up the midi keyboard and play with the synth sounds garageband has preinstalled. its weird how certain kinds of influences come out despite what you've been listening to all day. i think tomorrow i'm going to try to do some off time signature riffing. math rock anyone? hopefully that will help break up the 4/4 monotony that i've been falling into.
a lot of my tones sound the same and i need to start experimenting with dynamics and timbre more. found out that garageband has a few filters on it and reason is full of them, so that will help out. also on reason are a bunch of drum samples. i was reading that thrice's last album, there was drum sequencing done. but they sampled their drummer playing and did some effects editting and programming from those samples. maybe i can try that out. oh, and it'd be cool too to try dave grohl's method of tracking drums. i'll have to read up more on that.
i took some pictures today of my guitar, amp, and pedalboard. i'll post those on flickr sometime this week. until then, cheers.
bhurin
playlist:
cold war kids - robbers and cowards
doves - some cities
miles davis - kind of blue
led zeppelin - led zeppelin ii
the mercury program - a data learn the language
ideas
yesterday's session went pretty well. rearranged my room over the weekend and its helped out a lot, made the cables to and from my amp less visibly cluttered. anyways, the ideas were sounding mars volta-ish. i think it had a lot to do with the new distortion pedal coupled with some tremolo and delay. got to use the whammy doing some ambient sounds and bending them in the background. also got to try to jam on the drums to the recorded tracks. i need more practice on the drums. the headstock on my acoustic snapped, so i'm going to spend some time today repairing the guitar. cheers.
bhurin
playlist:
foo fighters - skin and bones
hot water music - caution
elvis costello - the very best of elvis costello
bhurin
playlist:
foo fighters - skin and bones
hot water music - caution
elvis costello - the very best of elvis costello
Friday, November 10, 2006
turbo rat!
booyakashah! new turbo rat in and it sounds great. still tweaking out the tone, but i think i'll be able to get what i'm looking for. that is all for today. big up to yourself!
bhurin
playlist:
talk talk - spirit of eden
thrice - artist in the ambulance
cursive - happy hollow
john coltrane - blue train
isis - in the absense of truth
bhurin
playlist:
talk talk - spirit of eden
thrice - artist in the ambulance
cursive - happy hollow
john coltrane - blue train
isis - in the absense of truth
Thursday, November 09, 2006
tappity tap tap
out of all of the playing and recording done tonight, there was only one section that i really liked. i'll revisit the tracks a few days from now so that they'll feel fresh. i tried a lot of finger tapping today near the end of the session, dave knudson style. i'd like to be able to try some more atmospheric sounds, maybe try dialing my delay pedal to get some modulation in the background. give it some depth and space. tomorrow i'm going to try some distorted guitar ideas.
i'll try to post some pictures and audio clips soon once i've compiled a substantial amount of stuff. tomorrow i should be picking up the turbo rat, so i'm pretty psyched on that. hopefully i'll be able to get that nice gritty distortion sound. til tomorrow!
bhurin
playlist:
thrice - the new song from their fire disc on youtube
talk talk - laughing stock
mouth of the architect - time and withering EP
i'll try to post some pictures and audio clips soon once i've compiled a substantial amount of stuff. tomorrow i should be picking up the turbo rat, so i'm pretty psyched on that. hopefully i'll be able to get that nice gritty distortion sound. til tomorrow!
bhurin
playlist:
thrice - the new song from their fire disc on youtube
talk talk - laughing stock
mouth of the architect - time and withering EP
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
and off we go
this log will log the events that take place in the musical laboratory known as my bedroom.
the first day of writing. i broke out my guitars and set up my amp and pedal boards. i recently picked up a digitech whammy pedal and hopefully by friday i will have picked up an 80s model of the turbo rat. i'm very excited about putting the music together and have been doing some playing the past few days, revisiting old ideas, and just kicking off the rust from not writing music in a while. hopefully by the end of next week, i'll have a bunch of ideas down and a few songs will present itself. oh, and did i mention that this will be an instrumental project? which doesn't necessarily mean no vocals. i'll just have to use the vocals as an instrument (thank you brian eno).
i picked up a copy of led zeppelin's dvd. jimmy paige playing his guitar with a bow is crazy. cheers.
bhurin
playlist:
this will destroy you - young mountain
mouth of the architect - time and withering EP
converge - no heroes
botch - we are the romans
the first day of writing. i broke out my guitars and set up my amp and pedal boards. i recently picked up a digitech whammy pedal and hopefully by friday i will have picked up an 80s model of the turbo rat. i'm very excited about putting the music together and have been doing some playing the past few days, revisiting old ideas, and just kicking off the rust from not writing music in a while. hopefully by the end of next week, i'll have a bunch of ideas down and a few songs will present itself. oh, and did i mention that this will be an instrumental project? which doesn't necessarily mean no vocals. i'll just have to use the vocals as an instrument (thank you brian eno).
i picked up a copy of led zeppelin's dvd. jimmy paige playing his guitar with a bow is crazy. cheers.
bhurin
playlist:
this will destroy you - young mountain
mouth of the architect - time and withering EP
converge - no heroes
botch - we are the romans
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