Okay, so it’s been about 9 days since I shared “our” work. I suppose it’s time to maybe write about what all I/we did here? 2 shares and 186 “listens” at the Soundcloud link.
Cool! I hope folks enjoyed what we did!
My objective in doing this was to get people involved in a piece of music, and one way or another inspire them to do it again, either on their own or with other people as a different collaboration, or whatever. I thought that maybe if a bunch of people got involved, each of those people might be excited about a piece of music they all had a hand in creating. Since we can’t really jam in person, I thought it would be cool to do so “virtually.”
In detail,
the idea was this; What if I asked as many people on Stick and tapping type people as possible to participate in a musical collaboration? The guidelines were very easy, and open to interpretation. Flexible. The deadline was tight, but not unreasonable. A week and a half or so before Christmas… The tempo was 110BPM, and the key signature was G Major or Eminor, but any of the modes diatonic to that key would have been fine. Or Anything. I believe I mentioned that several times in both private messages and forum posts. Anything. Just send it to me. The time sig was 4/4, and a sort of progressive rock feel. Also I wanted clean and separate tracks, no processing. But did I mention that I posted “Just send me anything”…? 19 people participated in this, and I think that it’s really cool. It turned out very well in my opinion. I think that most of the people who I approached about doing this were sure it was going to suck. I got a lot of “I’m gonna pass…” lol I hope that everybody was pleasantly surprised. It doesn’t suck, not one bit. We will do it again, thank you very much to everyone who listened to the track and participated.
So was there a preconceived notion to this? Did I have a plan? Nope! Not really. I was gonna make it up after I got everybody’s files. Nobody knew what was going to happen, (not even me!) although I was developing an idea or two as I listened to the submissions.
Guys, as the “producer” of this thing, I basically treated everyone’s submissions as my own private loop library! My own submission is not just
a musical offering, but the role of musical director. I followed my instincts and created something that I knew I would like, and hoped that it might appeal to others. I have nothing but the utmost respect for everyone’s parts. The best respect and musical spirit i could muster! Any treatment to said parts were done with respect, and in accordance with the musical spirit of the piece. I believe that everyone shines…
Let’s talk about
the submissions. I have uploaded a link to a mix down of the project, minus my tracks. I also included a track of just my tracks. It’s an interesting listen, to be sure. Also, I have included a .wav and .mp3 download of the final mix, for the guys who participated in the collaboration and anybody else that wants it; Now you don’t have to just go to Soundcloud to listen to your works! I was very surprised that the Soundcloud link was only ‘shared’ twice. Anyways, here is what I did with the submissions, what I was trying to achieve…
Steve Balogh (MichNS) - He’s the first guy up! The submitted tracks had ocean waves in it, heavily effected and not in the same tempo. It was a completed song at a different tempo that he had completed previously, and it had drums in it. Yikes! I wanted to use more of it, but this could be tricky. It sounded great on it’s own, that’s for sure! Well he had these cool bits that were kind of ambient that I thought might make a nice lead in for an intro… Bam. Chop. Drag. 8 Measures of that…
Joel Neufeld (DDiddly) - This was the very last submission I received! No kidding, I had the thing mixed and mastered and was just about to do a mix down and post it when I got Joel’s Email. Awesome. It’s a cool little medieval sounding thing that I thought would sound great as an extension of what Steve had done in his intro and build up to the next part nicely. Bam. Chop. Drag. 8 Measures of that…
Scott Kerr (Jayesskerr) - Nothing to really report here; C Lydian thing for 8 Measures. This part was created last as a way to help really ‘glue’ the piece together with tones that would be heard again throughout. 8 measures of a theme and a disjointed fill to get us to the next one. It is what it is. Bam.
Russell Keating (RWKeating) - A groove oriented submission that was 8 measures of a kind of laid back ‘intro’ sort of feel, and then another 8 measures of something that really gets moving. This one was one of my favourites, it was a lot of fun. Cool. Reminds me of Steve Harris or Geddy… Bam. Chop. Drag. 16 Measures of that.
Scott Kerr (Jayesskerr) - Here’s a two-measure fill to get us to the next submission, in Bminor with some noodle guitar-ish tapping - played with a Stick, though. No big whup, just a thing…
Stephen Sink (Paigan0) - This was a cool groove that Stephen made up, it was fun to listen to and I thought it had a great sound to it, the Railboard is just growly! I felt like this one would make a perfect lead-in to a horn part. Steve knows I’m a big fan of his, I knew that the solidity of his parts would make for a good ‘establish oneself’ part. Amazing as always. Bam. Chop. Drag. 8 Measures of that…
Rob Gellner (JazzB8ovn) - Well, I didn’t get any Stick stuff from Rob, but I DID get some horns. And they sounded killer! 4 tracks of horns, 2 trumpets, a flugel and a trombone. Coolness. Stuff like this is what makes music stand out. Rob asked for a reference track and I gave him one, it had 8 measures of a Stick thing I made up, and another ‘blank’ 16 measures to a drum groove. I didn’t use anything from the reference tracks I gave Rob in the piece. Bam. Chop. Drag. 16 Measures of that…
Dean Kobayashi (Skydiver) - This was a pretty sounding little thing, created with an NS, and I thought it would be perfect to lead into the next part. A sort of ‘calm before the storm’ if you will Chop. Simple, but quite elegant I thought. … Bam. Drag. 8 Measures of that…
John Edmunds (John.e) - Here was a cool, growly riff that I thought sounded badass. Totally cool, and it was a lot of fun to listen to and arrange here. Really excellent part! I felt like this one is definitely one of the riffs that really stands out, very memorable. I wish I had thought of it… Wicked. Bam. Chop. Drag. 16 Measures of that…
Scott Kerr (Jayesskerr) - Here is an E Harmonic Minor thing over B7 (the V7 of Imin) giving us a B Mixolydian b9 b13 sound, or otherwise known as Phrygian dominant. Same thing) Again, this is a set up for the next part…
Hammond Chamberlain (JCHammond) - I drew from a few sections of Hammond’s submissions to create a sort of composite. I thought the end result was airy, and kind of reverent. A definite mood change. Bam. Chop. Drag. 8 Measures of that…
Victor Bruhn (Gusset) - An interesting, almost bluesy submission to my ears. His piece actually helped inspire my own submission that occurs much earlier in the collab. Had me thinking “Satriani”. Bam. Chop. Drag. 8 Measures of that…
Daniel Marks (SageHalo) - Time was a bit elusive, so it got quantized so as to fit a groove. I really liked what it became once the rhythm lined up a bit better; there are some really interesting note choices that I might have easily dismissed had I not took the time to put it under the microscope. This part is one of the biggest departures from it’s original state, but it builds nicely towards the next contributor… Bam. Chop. Drag.
Jeremy Cubert (JACubert) - This was an interesting E7 thing, lots of E mixolydian overtones in his backing, and 3 different Linnstrument supplied solos. I thought the Trumpet one worked best, so I used it. Also, I applied a slight ‘fuzz’ to it to get it a bit ‘nasty’. Lots of fun to listen to and fit in. This one was a very nice setup for the part while providing a very cool solo break! Bam. Chop. Drag. 32 Measures of that…
Dave Brosky (Dbro) - Here were a couple of very solid pieces of music that could stand on their own very easily as-is. BUT… I wanted to hear Dave in a different context. Really different. Almost punk, and just a bit twangy with a fast backbeat in the second part. Dave’s parts bring some tension and grunginess to lead us to the next section in our journey. Dave has been doing Chapman Stick for a while, so it made sense to turn what he does on it’s ear. I am quite fond of how this went down…
Mike Kemp (Mike Kemp) - A cool melodic interlude with some interesting changes. This was another one that I really liked in the context of the overall piece. This one really screamed “Rush” to my ears. Not sure why, kind of sounds like the Geddy/Alex Chemistry I think. Minus Neil… Bam. Chop. Drag. 16 Measures of that…
Josh Goldberg (theAfroCircus) - This was a cool riff that kind of reminded me of Tool. A simple, but extremely effective part that gives a sort of “twist” to it. Also, Josh’s tone really stood out to me on this submission. It was very distinct, even naked and unprocessed. That big BONG BONG BONG part was a fuzzed out copy of his own riff, trimmed to accent. I left the noise at the end ‘cause I liked the rock and roll attitude it brought… It’s funny how sometimes little things can leave a big impact. Bam. Chop. Drag. 16 Measures of that…
Pete Gonzales (PCGonzales) - Somebody call me a Doctor…? Stellar ideas played on a Megatar. A little bit of audio quantize here and there to get the piece to sit rhythmically a bit better. A really captivating melodic hook. Plus a little chord bit that reminded me of a bit of Van Halen from the 1984 album. Cool. Bam. Chop. Drag. 16 Measures of that…
Olivier (Olivier) - Now THIS was interesting. A great Stick part without question, but also a vocal. A really good layered vocal. Drums drop out here, as I felt that Olivier pretty much owns the stage here. He keeps saying “A gain” a gain and again. lol He said “gain” (hahaha) and that had me thinking that the next part should be kind of heavy, or crazy, or unusual. Well, my daughter has a similar name, and she does shred…
Olivia Kerr - Me and my daughter play a sort of duet with me on Stick and her on guitar; I do the chords to a chunk of Eruption, and she does the tapping part, a bit of it anyways, and that’s that. We recorded it. Oh yeah, she’s 12, and did that in one take plugged into her Line6 PODxt with a cheap Pink Stratocaster. Her tapping solo is THE only guitar that is on this track. She is THE only guitar player on this track, just to be clear.
She thought it would be good to have a moment of respect to the master… (EVH)Boaz (Boaz) - A nice bit of melodic treatment. I thought that this would make for an epic ending, and prepare for the fadeout that comes next. I learned this part and doubled Boaz on it, both Bass and Melody sides. I actually learned almost everybody’s parts just so I could get a good feel for how supporting Stick parts, drum parts etc Anyways, this one was pure ear candy I thought. Bam. Chop. Drag. 8 Measures of that…
Randy Keith - I don’t think he posts on Stickist, but he does run the “Touch-style“ Facebook page, and he is a really good player. He used to play Stick, but currently plays a tapping instrument of his own design. I thought it would be really cool to get him in on this one, and he did not disappoint; It was the perfect way to end the tune! Bam. Chop. Drag. 13 Measures of that…
This was good fun, guys! Thanks for participating. I feel this was really successful. We will definitely do it again! As per request, an mp3 download of the tune, also one without any of my playing, and one with only my playing. Y'know, for reference. Be proud of what we created, guys as this is a pretty unique project that 186 people listened to.
Download Twenty-Sixteen MP3 Format
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3PWV56KXCgeU3E4UUFjQmJHQ3cDownload 2016 (No Scott) MP3 Format
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3PWV56KXCgeYWt0RDJzV0xTWVUDownload 2016 (Only Scott) MP3 Format
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3PWV56KXCgeVDFBWjd3UnNBc3MMore to come, guys.
-S