it was my second time playing with guitarist jeremy keller and not only it was starting to gel musically but we were also able to get beyond our training and technique to create an incredibly visceral electronic/ folk/modular improv performance.

i have always felt it was possible as duo or trio, but finding this hasn’t been easy. while i was talking to jeremy i found out he hasn’t really played much tonal music and although our musical instincts are puling us in opposite directions, i’m finding that the space between the seams very is invigorating and satisfying.

since yesterdays rehearsal the fact that i haven’t been able to stop listening to our rehearsal probably says a lot about what has been absent than anything else. it’s like dreaming your arm was missing and waking up realizing how lucky you are that it still works.

right now the hole in my soul has been temporarily filled

Music for Controllers, Reh 082110
jeremy keller, guitar
paul bailey, korg nanokey, buddha machine, kaossilator, and ableton live

Music for Controllers I, reh 082110 by paul bailey

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with that in mind i have been learning new techniques that are far beyond the limited mixing strategies i have used in the past (using mainly volume and reverb automation), and with the help of a few pros looking over my shoulder i’m learning to embrace the mixing process as an extension of each composition. please don’t think i’m attempting to create a george martin/phil spector/brian wilson production and the best way to describe my approach is that i’m using audio software (protools) as my darkroom to create a collection of music that is not a simulation of a live performance but really a ‘heightened reality’.

in the big picture i know this isn’t a new or earth shattering accomplishment (many rock bands have been doing this for years), but because all this music was created (composed, rehearsed, performed, recorded, and mixed) outside the usual channels of art-music presentation and the fact that i didn’t have to ask for ‘permission’ (through grants, commissions, and fundraising) shows that there are other ways to make art music outside the current long-running tradition of patronage and ‘working for the king’ the main example of why i’m calling the album ‘alt-classical’

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the arrangement pretty much evolves contrary to what you are probably expecting, swapping mandolin for electric guitar and passing the melody around through the ensemble gives it a real boho feeling and it’s been a fun way we have been ending most shows since the group started

the main problem today was that i got sidetracked worrying about whether the trombone fit well into the mix and since the the arrangement is pretty light and frothy i originally recorded it a bit away from the mic to get a more transparent sound (which i have since learned i could easily create with reverb plugin). so i spent my afternoon re-recording trombone, but now am having 2nd thoughts since the new recording that doesn’t sound much different.

Download audio file (tbone-1-ss.mp3)

original trombone part

Download audio file (tbone-2-ss.mp3)

newly recorded trombone part

so the plan for tomorrow (or monday b/c i have a few rehearsals) is to give it a fresh listen and see how things sound before i start making any big changes. right now i’m thinking i’ll probably use both tracks with one mixed low and slight delay (which will give it more stereo spread) and go from there. overall i think i the whole song is mixed too low (in the 2nd half) and need to get a better idea how to make the seams disappear (just like in counterpoint!)

until then enjoy the sweater song intro

Download audio file (sweater-song-intro.mp3)

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as i have alluded to in a previous post i’m in the final stages of mixing and in general it’s very strange to be spending so much time listening to recording sessions that are from a few years ago. i feel like i’m spending all my time hanging out with a holodeck version of my band that i start up on my macbook every morning. the other day when i was talking to scott mcintosh (clarinet) i hadn’t realized that we really hadn’t spoken for a few weeks since i have been listening to him play every day.

the most surprising thing about editing and mixing music is the strange intimacy you develop with the performances. during the process you become aware of everybody’s musical strengths and weaknesses which goes far beyond our relationship as bandmates in rehearsals. it’s a strange place to be in, repeatedly listening to a single moment of time when in reality the all of the band have moved on with their life  (i have to remind myself of that in rehearsals). as for editing and mixing my playing, having that kind of self awareness is problematic and is a big reason why i need to take a 3-6 month break between each stage of the process (recording, editing, and mixing) so that i can get some emotional distance from my own performance (and in general each composition). it’s not easy and i’m not usually happy with my trombone sound, but the good news is that on this album i finally have found a ‘good enough’ trombone sound where i don’t cringe everytime i hear myself play.

at this point of the summer it feels like i have been rehearsing every day (with my holodeck band) and i’m getting pretty excited as i get closer to taking this recording from ‘rehearsal’ to ‘performance’. i’m  also looking forward to finally being in a place where i feel comfortable sharing more about my DIY process and the how this album was made

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finally all the hacker unpleasantness is finished and this website is back up and mostly restored after i finally found the two backdoors that were allowing hackers to inject javascript into this site’s headers. after a few months of trying to fix it myself i finally gave up and paid the professionals (thanks sucuri security). still not really sure how it was hacked, but because it didn’t spread to my other blog i’m pretty hopeful it’s going to be an isolated incident.

i’m also starting to work out the planning for the 2nd annual midnight performance of terry riley’s “In C” . after talking to a few people we all figured it would be easier for everybody to attend if it were in the fall. right now i’m looking to have it as part of shane cadman’s RealNewMusic festival in whittier (september 18th 2010) and if this works out it would be a midnight show on friday sept 17th (which means midnight friday night (saturday night is the festival where i’m performing my music for controllers. we still need to iron out the details and post more soon but one big adjustment we are thinking about is having 3 open rehearsals on different sides of town to encourage a wider group of musicians to come out and play.

almost forgot… i’m also just started scheduling the recording sessions of my ‘requiem for a high homicide enclave’ for this fall and it’s one example in which these furlough days are working out in our favor. if all goes as planned it will allow bruce gallego an extended 4 day weekend to travel down from stockton to see his girlfriend and get a few days of recording in.

as you can see the last few months have all been about tying up loose ends before i start any new projects and i’m looking forward to clearing out these shelves and getting back to writing and performing again soon.

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plan b
spent an evening trying to edit php.ini files on my server to find out bluehost doesn’t allow this

plan c
i used a windows program (wrx file splitter) to split the xml file into smaller sizes. now that i’m uploading them it looks like there is going to be a lot of cleanup and this might take a few days.

wonderful

wish me luck and hope to be back soon!

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“Well, I can’t say that it hasn’t been a blast, because it has. But it has been decided that this blog has lived its span and that we can better serve you at www.ocregister.com/arts.”

this is depressing.

limiting the OC Register’s arts bloggers to writing reviews and color pieces is definitely a step backward.

especially in journalism the blog functions best in which thoughts, ideas, and commentary are posted that may not quite fit into the ever shrinking daily newspaper (does anybody actually read the physical kind anymore?). it also creates conversations (the “Should I review Bocelli” post is a great example of this) that help define and connect the broader arts community as a whole.

but of course if you are reading this on my blog you already “get it”

Update July 12, 2010 9:32am

“Dear Mr. Bailey,

I’m happy to explain. We have tried the arts blog for more than a year, and it hasn’t gotten much traction online. A blog takes four or five posts a day to build up an audience.  Our three arts reporters have many responsibilities – including writing news, previews and reviews for our Web site and our newspaper.  They will  continue to cover those things and publish them online and in print.  We are just relieving them of the added duties of a blog.

The Register’s commitment to arts coverage has not changed.

If you have questions or would like to chat about it, please give me a call.

Sincerely,

Rebecca Allen

Deputy Editor, Features

Orange County Register Communications

625 N. Grand Avenue

Santa Ana, CA  92701

714-796-3654   Fax: 714-796-3681

email: rallen@ocregister.com”

fb8f421d9b814c99be8a80bea1a7aa0b

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1st up is cleaning out my garage and turning it into a rehearsal studio/performance space. over the last few years i have definitely outgrown my “office” and now that i’m teaching private students at the house i need a bigger space to work in. after editing and mixing three albums (not to mention most of the composing that i do at home)i also have to admit that i really need a change of scenery. even though i wasn’t writing that much music this past year i found it very hard to want to sit down at my desk to do anything creative so i ventured out anywhere i could think of as an alternative creative space (including different rooms in the house) and came to the conclusion that having a larger space in my garage should do the trick for now. it will also allow me to setup and properly practice with the all the gear i’m using with my “music for controllers” setup. instead making music through headphones i really have needed to spend the time figuring out how to play these pieces “live” and have come to realize it’s much more involved than when I just played trombone.

the main problem is getting a proper balance when you are mixing live acoustic instruments (trombone, voice) and controllers (kaossilator, drone/scruti box, buddha machine, ableton live, launchpad, etc…). i also have realized that mixing electric and acoustic instruments without sound reinforcement can be very a very disjointed listening experience in a live performance and in many ways my even though much of this music is not technically hard to perform my “practicing” centers around how to setup gear, mics, and amps which means that i have to pretty much be practicing/performing with a stereo/PA system to make my performances aurally make sense.

with all that being said (and after trying to mostly “practice” at other locations) the reality is that the setup and teardown of this technological spectacle (a few amps, mic/stand, laptop/keyboard stand/table, MOTU traveller(digital/audio interface), and 2 pedal boards) can take almost as long as the rehearsal so for the time being i’m going to be only performing solo or with whomever musicians that can make it to the 90042 for a weekly rehearsal.

after driving down to fullerton and back for the last 20 years for PBE and DIE rehearsals can really take it’s toll and at this point in my life i think it’s only natural to change things up and make music in a different way. to me it’s kinda funny b/c on one hand i know there are a lot of people who over the past few years have been introduced to my “Retrace Our Steps/PBE 1.0″ music who really wish i was making more music with the larger group and really like the strings/winds/rock band orchestration. there are also another group who have only seen the “PBE 2.0 rock band” (as we jokingly called it) and keep asking when that group is going to perform again.  all i can say is that part of making alt-classical music is not really having the control to make those choices which leaves me to make music with the equipment and musicians that are available (and not continually banging my trying to fit a round peg in a square hole)

the good news is that if all goes well I should be performing on a regular basis soon. when and if there will be a PBE 3.0 is yet to be seen.  right now one step at a time is fine with me.

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Marching bands unite in tribute to Brandon Franklin, slain at 22 | – NOLA.com

it’s really sad and horrible and reading further introduced me to a whole new understanding of how the brass band culture and music education are intertwined in NOLA.

“Such large, ambitious marching bands have become a relative anomaly in a city famous for its second-lines, brass bands and musical luminaries, however. More than four years after Hurricane Katrina, band leaders say they are fighting to ensure the tradition thrives in a dramatically altered public school landscape.”

obviously Katrina has made things more difficult, but not in ways you might think

“Several forces have depleted the ranks of the city’s marching bands. First, fewer students now live in the city, as the overall population has dropped since Katrina. And several high schools with vibrant marching bands, including Kennedy High School near the lakefront, did not reopen after the storm.Moreover, the city’s public high schools tend to be much smaller than before the storm. And many remain in a state of flux as some of the low-performing schools phase out grade by grade, with new programs taking their place.”

|snip|

…”Carnival parades are required by law to feature at least seven marching bands, a tradition that has helped foster a vibrant band culture at many of the city’s schools for decades.“Hopefully, in the very, very near future we can get more students from the middle schools and junior highs to come in and help bring our programs alive,” said Keith Thomas, the new band director at John McDonogh High School.John McDonogh’s band will not march this year, giving Thomas time to recruit new members and better prepare the current musicians.“They are just not ready to be on the street yet,” he said.Thomas noted that many students lost sight of the tradition after so much personal turmoil, including the post-storm scattering of relatives, mentors and band leaders who inspired many children to pick up an instrument in the first place.“We have kids who really don’t know what they want to do,” he said. “One day they want to march and the next day they don’t. You’ve got to sell it. You’ve got to make them believe in the program.”

link: New Orleans Mardi Gras marching bands are incubators for more than music | – NOLA.com

you learn more about brandon and his TBC brass band via

http://fromthemouthpieceonback.com/

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