Music is About Life, Life is About Rhythm

"Life is about rhythm. We vibrate, our hearts are pumping blood, we are a rhythm machine, that's what we are."   - Mickey Hart (Grateful Dead)

Al Improta, Joe Chirco, Joe Napoli & I at Cloud9 Recording

The components of music are melody, harmony, and rhythm.  Rhythm is the cornerstone.  Rhythm is the foundation.  If the rhythm section of a band is not rocking, grooving, or swinging, there is no music happening.  Like Duke Ellington said, "It don't mean a thing, if it ain't got that swing".  This is why the rhythm tracks for a song are so important.  If they aren't happening, it really doesn't matter what you play or sing on top of them.  The song will be lifeless.

I was back at Cloud9 Recording on September 6th to finish recording rhythm tracks for my upcoming CD.  Joe Chirco was back playing drums, Al Improta was back playing bass, and I was playing guitar.  The session goal was to complete the remaining four songs, and I had selected a fifth song to try if we had time.  At the end of the day we had completed the rhythm tracks for all five songs.  All nine songs for the next CD are now ready for vocals, additional guitars, and keyboards where needed.  Throughout these early sessions I've been pleased to note that after every take we have always been in agreement regarding the quality of what we just played.  We all knew if it was THE take, and if it was not THE take we all knew what needed attention.  Musicians have egos like everyone else, so it is always a treat to work with players who consistently put the music first.  In this case not only were we putting the music first, but we all seemed to be recognizing where it needed to go, and doing our best to get it there.

The primary guitar for today's rhythm tracks was the 1958 Gibson Les Paul Historic Re-issue that I also played on "Follow the Money" and "Nobody's Friend".  The amp I used was the 1960's Fender Vibrolux that was also used on those songs.  Aside from one exception that I will elaborate on later, I did not use any effects pedals.   In case I haven't mentioned it yet, most of the guitars and all of the amps used for this project are from the Cloud9 collection.

1958 Gibson Les Paul Historic Re-issue

First up was "Another Wasted Day".  This is probably the most straight-forward song on the entire project.  It is a little over 3 minutes long and is the only song on the CD with no guitar solos.  The challenge here was settling on the tempo, where small variations could make the song sound rushed or dragging.  After a few takes we nailed it and were ready to proceed to the next song.

"Sacred Place" is a song I had recorded a few years ago.   I liked that performance, but not the recording quality.  I also think "Sacred Place" will be a strong song to play live; it has a ragged Stones or Crazy Horse feel about it. I also thought it fit in well with the rest of the new material.  I experimented with a new stomp box from Cloud9 Audio for the rhythm guitar track, as I wanted the guitar to sound a bit grittier than the Vibrolux was providing. Rather than switch to a different amp, Jack Napoli suggested trying out this distortion/overdrive pedal he recently designed.  The pedal is actually two pedals in one.  One function allows you to set an overdrive that is similar to Pete Townshend's sound in The Who, and you can vary it from his late 60's sound to his 70's sound.  The other pedal function is more of a fuzz, and this is designed to sound like the Hendrix sound, and can also be varied from a soft break up to singing, gobs of sustain, heavy fuzz.  The Townshend overdrive with a mid setting was perfect for the sound I was after.  Thankfully my guitar retained its sound and expressiveness with this pedal.  Many guitar pedals are personality vacuums - everything sounds the same coming out of them.  I really liked that the guitar and amp retained their characters with this pedal - with the setting I used it was almost as if the amp had an extra pre-amp gain that I turned up.  It sounded that natural.

The FuzzBubble guitar pedal from Cloud9 Audio

"A Girl of Nineteen" was up next.  This has a 6/8 feel and like "Another Wasted Day", tempo is critical.  It doesn't exactly feel like a rock song, or a jazz song, or an R&B song - and that is where musicians like Joe & Al really shine.  Rather than force it into a standard groove, they found the song's unique pulse and amplified it.  Joe did a great job varying dynamics to contrast the verse & chorus, and Al played some very melodic fretless bass.  I started out playing the Les Paul, but after two takes switched to a Gibson ES-225.  The 225 was a better fit for the song.  Once again, after a few takes we had a great performance.  I decided to extend the ending of the song before we did the final take.  There is a dreamy improv that I think will be effective following the last lyric.  Another great thing about working with musicians like Joe and Al is they are both great listeners.   I mean that both as players and as people who are alert in the moment.  Not only were we always listening and responding to each others playing but anytime a musical suggestion was made, "Lets extend that ending a bit" or "Lets bring the volume down for the last verse only" or "How about adding another measure to end and do a ritard on the intro phrase", EVERYONE would nail the suggestion on the next take.   We recorded a fine performance of "A Girl of Nineteen".

I knew "Rise and Shine" would be challenging.  The verses need to be slightly slower then the choruses, and they vary dynamically as well as with tempo.  The verses of the song are mainly acoustic guitar and voice, the full band kicks in on the chorus.  Al again played some very soulful fretless bass, conjuring the ghost of Jaco as he accompanied the acoustic guitar and lead vocal in the second verse.  Joe Napoli worked his magic with Pro Tools, making sure the song's different sections segued nicely.  Once again, the final performance was excellent.

The fifth song I had selected, "Sympathetic",  was what I consider a straight-forward groove song - no breaks, no weird changes, just get into a groove, follow the chords and play.  Joe and Al were ready to give it a try before ending the day so we played it down twice.  Both were good takes, but the second take was better.  This is the kind of song where the groove itself just makes me feel good.  Its going to be fun to play a guitar solo on this.  For the rhythm track I played Jack Napoli's Taylor acoustic plugged into the Vibrolux amp.  It sounded quite good, so it may be a keeper; but I will probably record another acoustic rhythm track with my Lowden as well.

It was a very successful session.  I'll write again as the sessions continue with vocals & additional instrumental overdubs.

The Work of a Musician - Playing or Listening?

"The world is full of people that have stopped listening to themselves or have listened only to their neighbors to learn what they ought to do, how they ought to behave, and what the values are that they should be living for."  - Joseph Campbell

Doing guitar overdubs with the blue Strat and the Gibson ES-225

The real work of being a musician, or any other creative artist, is deep listening.  Sure, craft is also important.  Craft provides skills and techniques of a mechanical nature.  But regardless of our level of advancement in craft, something else is necessary to produce work of depth.  The only SOUL our work will ever have is what we are able to impart, and without deep listening we have little to share.  

I've noticed something about the musicians and songwriters whose work moves me.  Not all of the musicians have the same level of technical ability on their instrument, not all the songwriters are poets, but the one thing they all share is a depth to their work.  They learned to touch something within that was both personal and universal, and then communicate that through their music.  This is not something that is necessarily respected in the marketplace where style often rules over substance.  A great book or painting or piece of music sometimes requires a degree of attention to appreciate that our current fast-paced lives do not encourage.   That's okay.  The flip side to that coin is that a book, song, poem or performance that has depth can give someone a reason to slow down for a little while and then influence or even change their perspective.

This is some of what I've been thinking about as I continue my current recording project.  I was back at Cloud9 Recording on Monday, Aug 30th to overdub additional guitars on the four songs that were recorded at the last session.  I have a basic philosophy about recording (and performing).  Pay attention to the moment.  Guitar solos are 90% improvised in the studio.  Other parts of arrangements are 100% thought out, but the moment dictates whether or not they will remain, be altered to fit a piece of music that is evolving as it is being recorded, or abandoned altogether.  Allowing the music to negotiate its own path and then following helps create lively, inspired performances.  I like to leave some room for magic.

The Gibson Lucille and a few other guitars ready for playing

This next bit is for guitar players and recording enthusiasts.  I'll talk about the subject matter of the songs when I blog on the vocal recording sessions.

Once again Joe Napoli was at the mixing board and Jack Napoli had selected 2 guitar amps and a few guitars based on a conversation we had a few days earlier.  The amps were set up in the live room while I played my parts in the mixing room.  I prefer this to being in the room with the amp because I can hear the music better via the control room speakers than headphones.  The first song we worked on was "A Rock and a Nail".  I played a Gibson ES-225, and then played a similar part with a Telecaster that had a Strat pickup at the neck.  I like doing this because some sections end up doubled while others will play off each other.  There is a short guitar solo in the middle of the song that I thought I'd end up playing on a Gibson, but while I had the Tele in my hand from the last rhythm take I decided to try a pass at the solo with that guitar.  Whoa - first take had some nice moments and that Tele fit in the track way better than I'd expected.  I did a few passes with a Gibson Lucille, but none had the magic of the Tele solo - so that is one that will end up on the CD.

The second song we worked on was "Brooklyn, 1964".  Again, I wasn't crazy about the tracking rhythm guitar so I did another complete rhythm take on the Tele.  I then played some melody lines that are part of the arrangement on a blue Strat.  The guitar solo was also played on the blue Strat.  I went for a clean guitar sound on this solo - no pedals and we didn't drive the amp too hard.  This is a fun song to solo over.  I did 5 or 6 takes of guitar solo but I think we went with the first or second one - it had the magic.

1950's Fender Deluxe - This amp and a Vibrolux have been sounding great with the Fender & Gibson guitars

Next up was "Nobody's Friend".  This has the most complex musical arrangement of the four.  The verses are rhythmically broken up and syncopated, and then the chorus has a straight rock feel.  To create the sound I wanted I used three separate guitar parts, all played on different guitars through different amps,  that interweave to create the final guitar 'sound'.  The main rhythm guitar is the Les Paul I tracked a few weeks back.  I then played the Telecaster with a very different sound in the spaces of the original guitar part.  The third guitar is a Strat that comes in on the lead-in to the chorus to color that part of the song a different shade.  Once these were complete I played the guitar solo that happens in the middle of the song.  I used the blue Strat again - its sound worked really well with this song.  Played lightly the notes sounded very clean, but if I picked harder they got edgier.

The last song of the day was "Follow the Money".  The Les Paul rhythm track I laid down at the last session was perfect to build on.  I doubled that rhythm track on a Strat just in case we want to thicken the guitar sound for the chorus or create a stereo effect when we mix.  The most straight-forward rock song of the four, it has two lengthy guitar solos.  I wanted to take my time with these try to play something that fit the aggressive tone of the rest of the song.  This was the only song where I used a stomp box for some extra overdrive.  It was fun playing some loud'n'nasty guitar.

The Vibrolux - Used this with a Les Paul for rhythm tracks and with  a Strat for some tracks as well

One last thing I wanted to accomplish was an acoustic guitar on "Brooklyn, 1964".  This required additional set up so we decided to do this last.  I played my Lowden acoustic and was pleased that it fit well with the electric rhythm guitar. I will be back at the studio to record guitar/bass/drums for the next group of songs Monday Sept 6th.  Joe Chirco will be back on the drum stool and Al Improta will be back on bass.  I'll write about that session next week and give you all the updates.