Rothie's Musings

JoyRide Studios

2009-05-03T15:39:00.000-07:00

EARS met at Blaise Barton's JoyRide Studios in Humboldt Park.

http://www.joyride-studio.com/

Candelabras of microphones line the walls.

Studio owner, Blaise Barton talked about how he got into the business, working at ACME studios with the late Mike Rasfield, an E.A.R.S. founding member.

Blaise recounted the time that he did a long session for a Bob Dylan album.
http://www.joyride-studio.com/blog/2008/10/new-bob-dylan-cd-features-2-songs.html

In the control room.

Off in a smaller room, a Steinway sits ready for you to play.

Reflections on warm weather, and some Birthday fun

2009-05-03T15:16:00.000-07:00

Well, I am sitting here at a quarter to midnight mildly cursing the weather reporters. All day on the news we were warned that tonight we were going to have crazy weather. So crazy that if you were smart, you should just stay in tonight. Rain, hail, thunderstorms, and flash flooding. Well nothing of the kind. Its a little foggy, and that is about it. I don't know why I let the weather forecast keep me from making plans, so I stayed in and fell asleep in the early evening...

Not long ago, just as the April weather became tolerable, my birthday appeared on the horizon. With that I went for a walk on the beach with my new friend Jennifer.

Brring Brring!

When is the last time you saw one of these things? Cummon...

I've been to this beach before, but I never noticed this structure. I am not even sure what this is, but this tower reminds me of the film, The House on Haunted Hill. I wonder what kind of sinister activity goes on here. hmm....

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photos go here
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I had a get-together for my birthday, at a local pub, but was so caught up in the activities that I hardly took any photos. Friends from many circles showed up, and it was a great time. I did manage to take one photo, when there were only several of us left and we traveled to a late-night bar for a final drink. By then things were pretty mellow, and the excitement was mainly the light show flashing on the ceiling.

Its 3am, do you know where your beer is?

-- the next day...

..at the Hopleaf in Chicago. http://www.hopleaf.com/

This is an excellent restaurant/bar and if you have an interest in trying some exotic imported European ales, you must go. The food is amazing. I had the Steak Frites dinner, which is an organic steak with their special fries. If you just want to pop in for a try, then just have an ale with an order of frites. The mayo sauce that you dip the fries in is... ahh, a taste of Heaven..

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Well.. at least I got to hang out and chill, and finish this blog entry. On my laptop I am listening to an mp3 of Kettel vs Secede - Panoptica 5, which has some brilliant music clips on it.

It is available here on this page: http://www.panoptic.be/panoptica/index2.html

here is the direct link: http://www.panoptic.be/panoptica/photos/kettel-vs-secede-panoptica5-live-excerpts.mp3

Time for some more sleep now...

Black Lion Audio and other things...

2009-04-04T13:56:00.000-07:00

EARS met at Black Lion Audio at the end of February and was treated to an insider's view of the facilities. Founder and owner, Matt Newport, discussed his philosophy of his products, various issues he has encountered, and we learned the history of his company.

Black Lion Audio

Black Lion is known for their modifications to already existing Pro-sumer audio interfaces. They replace various components in the pre-amps of MOTU and DIGI Audio Interfaces, as well as other brands, and the results are sonically superior.

Their mods are very reasonably priced for the results you get, and are backed by their own two-year warranty.

During the last week in March, some very un-nice person backed into my car some time during the day, and then decided to drive off. I didn't even realize my car had been hit until I was leaving for work and walked past the passenger side of my car for the first time. I am glad that I have auto insurance, however, that person who hit me aught to consider making amends soon before bad Karma catches up to them.

(photo borrowed)

As far as electronic gadgets go, I am very intrigued by the ACER Aspire One Netbook. This is a super-small and lightweight laptop which is about the size of a book, but is capable of doing everything that a larger laptop can do. And you can easily find one for under $250.

See Here: http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/product/31863/review/aspire_one.html

If I were to get a new camera...

2009-01-14T12:45:00.000-08:00

Well..

After some research, (and much cajoling from my friends) it looks like I need to find an older model Fujifilm F series camera this year. These cameras seem to be rated "the best" when it comes to taking photos in low light, which is what I love to do, plus one or more of the models has image stabilization. Yay! No more blurry dark photos! But what I have learned is that Fuji abandoned this great camera with subsequent models when the race began to make cameras with higher and higher megapixels. You know 8, 10, 12 Megapixels in a little camera like this seems impressive, but actually that destroyed what made this camera such a stand out.

Here is an example of what I can do with my circa 2005 Olympus..

It is a cool photo but I feel lucky

It looks like the best bet for my style of photography is going to be the the Fujifilm Finepix F30fd, F31fd, or F45fd....

If you are a technology geek like me then you are going to want to read all about it by reading the links below. But the proof is really in the photos which are too good to be true, and no wonder this $200 camera now sells for over $700 - that is if you can even find one.

See here:

http://www.takegreatpictures.com/fujifilm_f_series.fci

http://www.amazon.com/review/product/B000EJVWGS/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?_encoding=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

(Photo borrowed)

Let me try yours so I can see how great it really is...

2009 New Year's Resolutions and what's new

2009-01-02T14:25:00.000-08:00

Yes

It is time to reflect on last year a little and set some goals for the new year.

hmm...

But first see here. A quick stop into the Tone Zone. One of the last big classic rooms in Chicago. And literally a quick stop, since I was with my friend Sam, and he had to drop off some equipment as we were traveling around.

Sam tells me this place uses ProTools and a SSL console.

It looks really cool inside and I think it would be great to have an EARS meeting here.. err even better I mean it would be great to track a song of mine here. If I can pull something together that would have a few horns and other acoustic instruments, so you can really hear the sound of the room. This ties in with my New Year's resolutions that I am working on..

Next up, it was the EARS annual Holiday Party. This time held at a great Italian restaurant in Wicker Park.

The food was great. The wine was great. I was introduced to a Malbec wine called Neu Direction that was totally tasty. See here: http://winecask.blogspot.com/2008/11/neu-direction-malbec-2005-wine-review.html

Pictured above, some esteemed veterans of the industry.
Top row: Mike Konopka, David Moss, Michael Kolar, Tim Swan
bottom row: Hudson Fair, Jack LeTourneau, and Harry Brotman.

The party was a lot of fun and everyone seemed to like it. If you have an interest in audio, consider joining EARS.

OK one of my resolutions is to get a better camera. I like to take photos in low light and because of that, a lot of them come out blurry.

Another resolution is to watch my diet and exercise more.

(to be continued)

New Stuff and Old Stuff - disorganized leftovers..

2008-12-28T12:46:00.000-08:00

YAY.

So the end of the year is not too far off. And so what is new?

Well Secret Beach 'Solos' is available on CDBaby now. Right Here.

It will soon be on a number of digital stores too like Amazon.com and Napster too. More to follow.

What else? geez. I'd like to get to work on a new CD. How bout it?

Old stuff:

Well here are some photos of the recent past I suppose:

Here is Doug McBride's Gravity Studios in Wicker Park.

This is the recently added mastering room.

Doug went through a detailed explanation of how his new equipment works. You see he traded out a lot of the older equipment for some new stuff and well.. you can really get into the nitty gritty by reading the November '08 EARS recap here.

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Back earlier in the year we met at Marshall Terry's Stereophonic Studios which is near Belmont and Western, not far at all from Steve Albini's Electrical Audio.

Here is Marshall obviously deep in thought.
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Nothing wrong with a taste test.
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One of my New Year's resolutions is to stop taking blurry photos.

So because of the awful weather we are having, I have been curtailing my nightlife activities. For instance in the last several days we got a huge snowstorm, then sub-zero freezing temperatures, then it all warmed up and melted, resulting in a flash flood, and now we are back to winter again.

Winter Blahs

2008-12-14T15:39:00.001-08:00

Today is kinda nice because the temperature went up. I think it is in the high 40's. But that is uncommon this time of year. It is COLD! And dark and gloomy. I caught a cold, and some kind of a sinus thing is going around. It would be a good time to hibernate but there is just too much work to do.

Website Update

2008-12-10T14:07:00.000-08:00

The Secret Beach website is again in a state of change. Right now the shopping cart is down - well actually it is a new shopping cart and it is being configured. What is new? Soon you will be able to download mp3 files as well as purchase CDs, and there is a number of cassette tapes still available too.

Within a month, I hope, the entire website will be redone and finally brought into better focus. That is my New Year's resolution, or one of them anyhow.

In addition Secret Beach music will soon be proliferating a number of other online stores. Stay tuned.

So finally, during this time of growth, Secret Beach music is available for sale and if you would like to make a purchase, feel free to email me and I will get right back to you.

Thanks much

-Eric

The last two weekends.

2008-12-07T12:10:00.001-08:00

With Al Ursini, owner of Studio Chicago, at Nortons in Highland Park. (and Lori showing off her beautiful middle finger - isn't she great?)

Now here's a gem..

Upstairs at a bar called Rizzo's in downtown Naperville. No this is not Joe Rizzo Chevrolet. Quite the opposite. This place reminded me of One Eyed Jake's at the University of Iowa. A very cool, yet down-to-earth dance bar with a friendly vibe. The photo came out dark, but isn't this the way its supposed to be? Let tiny colored lights be your guide to the deep bass thumping and synth loops. The sense of touch is also used to get around. Definitely add this to your list next time you go bar hopping in Naperville. Oh I could go on about Naperville. If you are looking for a college, and post-college scene, outside of the city, the bars here do not disappoint.

The new Planet 10 Studios

2008-11-01T14:20:00.000-07:00

James Johnson first treated us to Planet 10 Studios a year ago this month when he was in Barrington. This year, The Engineering and Recording Society of Chicago met at James' recently relocated and massively upgraded Planet 10 Studios -A highlight of which is their newly acquired classic Neve 8108 console pictured above.

The studio has only been open since the beginning of the summer and already Amanda Palmer of The Dresden Dolls, and drummer Paul Wertico are both doing projects here.
I had a great time learning about the history of the facility, listening to some recent recordings, taking lots of cool photos of course, and enjoying the tasty pizza and beer (and soda too).

E.A.R.S. is a very cool organization, and if you haven't noticed, we meet in a different studio every month. Whether you are a seasoned professional looking to network, or just starting out, you will find the group to be very fun, informative and welcoming. In my case, I enjoy learning about recording and seeing how I can apply the knowledge to my music.. err future music.. I also enjoy photographing these beautiful rooms; they are like works of art in themselves and as you know a picture can tell a thousand words.

Anyhow, Planet 10 is located in Palatine, on Northwest Highway, near Rt 53, this facility has been host to several well-known studios over the years, including Studio 53, and Don Griffin's Studio VMR. It was acoustically designed by Carl Yancher, http://yanchardesign.com/ who also designed the second floor studio at Chicago Recording Company, as well as many other studios across the country.

If you want to read about this studio and more about E.A.R.S., check out the EARS website at ears-chicago.org.

The place looks great.

There is a ton of great outboard gear that I didn't get a photo of. Keep in mind that Jimmy prefers Nuendo over ProTools, and therefore this is a Nuendo studio.

Pictured here: myself with EARS Vice President, Michael Kolar behind the Neve. Notice how the console and room are color coordinated? Can you say Bling! Behind us, you can see the custom mounted B&W 808 speakers.

hmm interesting... :)

A variety of guitar amps await you at Planet 10.

The B room houses a number of great Synths, including two Moogs that are autographed by Bob Moog himself. Hey, this just in.. check out the P-10 website's image gallery, some of those are my pictures... not bad.

Two veterans of the music industry, and EARS members: Don Griffin, Proprietor of Studio VMR, now in Brookfield, and Dave Moss, owner of The Thinking Man's School of Drum, and his studio, The Crib (located in Skokie). Don previously occupied this location for two years some time ago.

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Allright..

Indian Summer - maybe??

2008-10-12T13:18:00.000-07:00

Yea, its that time of the year where the leaves are changing and at night it is getting cold out. But for the past few days it has been summery out. Really nice actually.

I have been preoccupied with certain life things which have overtaken my music making. Currently I am in the process of packing up my things and looking to move into an apartment.

Im looking for a fun hood to live and a big place too so I can set up my studio equipment somewhere and leave it up. Only then can I focus on composing and recording again. It is a long process though, this uprooting and relocating. I still have a day-job to go to five days a week. I have a variety of commitments and goals to stick to. Also, it is important to maintain a balance in life, and in the waning days of nice weather, there is fun to be had. Later today I will bike 12 miles for exercise too.

The good news is that everything I am doing is moving me forward in one way or another, in one or more aspects of my life. Rome wasn't built in a day.

Some very good news can be found in my latest post on my other blog. In a way I was sort of waiting for that good news before I set out making new committments. Now with that good news, I feel like a certain weight has been lifted from me and I am ready to make bold steps forward.

Hurray!

Summer almost gone?

2008-08-25T22:34:00.000-07:00

It seems like the hottest days of summer were just beginning, and now it seems that summer is beginning to slowly fade away. Where did it all go? That is what you get in the Midwest I suppose. Meh.

What is up?

2008-08-09T19:08:00.000-07:00

The air is cooler tonight. But it is still shorts weather.

I am happy to say that when I was practicing the guitar earlier, I was able to do so without the return of the neuropathy that has been plaguing me for some time. I still have it to some degree, but last week and this week, I have begun to feel an improvement.

To make a small story short, I am playing the guitar again, albeit for short periods of time. 30 minutes max. I am slowly rebuilding myself. Id like to do a short recording project coming up. Just record a couple of covers with a group and also record some tracks to take home and remix into some ambient stuff.

In the meantime I have begun to map some other projects.

I am in the process of starting up an improv troupe. Currently just finding people to be in it. So far three brave souls have responded to my posts. It will hopefully become a team that is into doing a Harold. I enjoy that very much and I think it would be a lot of fun. The most important premise of the team is that all of the members are cancer survivors. ..

I am also in the process of finding some Audio Engineers in the area who can assist with remixing and editing some of the Five Thousand People tracks that were recorded in Colorado a few years ago. There is some polishing to be done, and some transfers from one software to another, then some sweetening and mastering to be done, and then when it is all finished, there should be a CD worth of material to release. I am very excited about this and I know that the rest of the crew is too.

While these things are going on, I plan to continue practicing the guitar and redeveloping my abilities. The third creative project of the bunch will be some new solo music of my own, but I see that happening as the third thing on the list here.

Of course there are a couple of other ideas waiting in the wings as well..

Why am I telling you all this? Well I just wanted you to know that I am slowly getting creative again. Well thats not true really, I have had plans percolating all along, but now some of these ideas are beginning to rise to the surface.

For now, have a great August..

The summer keeps marching on..

2008-07-27T18:33:00.000-07:00

Yea I still have website problems, but no time to really focus on it right now.

In the meantime there is summer fun to be had. I cant help it. Its warm out now and there is a lot going on. They say that a picture tells a thousand words.. So let me recap:

Car Show in Highwood, IL. some time in June.

The Robert Plant - Alison Krause concert at Ravinia. Now that was really fun. Robert Plant - Alison Krause Aside from the music on their CD, a highlight for me was a totally reworked version of "In The Mood" that blew me away.

A Bonfire party at my friend Rich's. That would be my friend and past co-Associate Editor Rich Behrens, from the Tail Spins days. He has a cool music blog called Cratedigger Check it out...

A summer EARS meeting. This one at Phase Recording in Highland Park. In the background is Dave Moss playing the drums, while in the foreground Matt Feddermann dials in the sound. EARS Secretary Chris Cwiak is just leaving the live room and Gary Groeper is playing the bass.

The Beach Boys concert at Ravinia...

John Stamos, the guy who used to be married to Rebecca Romijn, was playing the drums with the Beach Boys. When they announced that, all the young girls ran up to the pavilion to try and see him.

Yes it was the Beach Boys and therefore there were plenty of beach balls being tossed around the lawn. It was a party and these girls in our group were having a great time.

The crowd batted around the beach balls way after the sun set.

Once the sun started to set, the girls in our group started playing with magic glow rings. Star Power!

As the sun set on July 11th it started to rain too. This made for a very interesting photo out the back window of the house. in a few hours I was headed to Improv Olympic to participate in the Jam and to celebrate my 1-year N.E.D. status.

At the JAM at the IO Theater, or Improv Olympic as it will always be called by me. Improv Olympic I did a few scenes and Kerry Haps, President of EARS, and his wife made it out to observe the FUBAR. It was fun, but I miss doing a Harold
which is what IO is known for, or at least "Long Form."

Another Bonfire hangout, this time at my friend Jim's. Being in the Midwest, where it is cold half the year, I really welcome the opportunity to just hang out with a couple of beers around an outdoor fire. It is good to take a breather once in a while. Summer is so short it seems, it sometimes becomes hectic trying to do everything on the calender.

Fast forward to last Friday night to the Polvo concert at the Subterranean in Wicker Park.

Now that was a good time. See below...

People from all over the country came here to see Polvo because they finally reunited after a 10-year hiatus...

After the concert, 5000 People cohort, Jon Chambers, and I ended up talking with Ash Bowie for a while. When I was walking out, I realized that the sound man for the show was a guy name Bob Weston, who hosted an EARS meeting over the winter at his facility Chicago Mastering Service. It was a great night that didnt end until 4am.

Website Probs

2008-07-05T20:39:00.001-07:00

The Secret Beach website is currently experiencing some technical probs. The host moved it to a new server and for some reason what you see is not the current site, but something from a while ago. Working on it..

Sunny day at the beach

2008-06-01T14:26:00.001-07:00

I started a YouTube channel just now and this is the first video I uploaded. This is just the start - stay tuned.. there is plenty more to create.... but for now, here is the link to my channel: http://www.youtube.com/secretbeach001

Eric

Rebuilding Recharging Regrouping and Healing

2008-05-10T13:23:00.000-07:00

So where to begin? Some of the events of the last 12 months I really could have done without. as a matter of fact it sucked. One night last year around this time, I was out enjoying an outdoor concert and making great plans for a great summer. Soon thereafter, my world turned upside down. An occasional minor annoyance led to a Dr's visit, and began a lengthy ordeal involving surgery and six months of chemotherapy. Final pathology would indicate that it was Stage IIIc Colon Cancer. Although I did very well throughout my treatments, towards the end of chemotherapy I became severely dehydrated, lost tons of weight, and had to be hospitalized for a week. I weighed 118 lbs, became anemic, and had dangerously low platelet and WBC counts. Since then, everything slowly returned to normal. I have spent my time focused on regaining my strength and abilities. I am happy to say that I remain cancer-free (almost 1 year now), most likely completely cured, and very eager to record tons of music.

During the whole ordeal, I continued working full time, and continued my role as the Treasurer of E.A.R.S. (That would be www.ears-chicago.org - The Engineering and Recording Society of Chicago.)

Physically I am fine now. There is no evidence of disease in me. My recovery has gone very well and it is something I devote my energy to. I have gained almost all of my original weight back; leg-pressing 300 lbs; biking 12 miles a couple of times a week; walking several miles a week. My weekly regimen consists of lifting weights, Yoga, bike riding, walking, meditating, eating right, and resting.

Emotionally I am still in the process of dealing with this and what it all means, and who I am now, and what I am going to do next. That will take some time. I am very grateful to my friends, family, collegues and co-workers who were and continue to be so supportive. There are many positives that can come of this, including more creative energy than I know what to do with. I want to mention this here and then continue the focus of this blog on music making. However..

On a separate blog, I kept a journal detailing my experience. There is a lot of information about the chemo I received, the surgery, technology, eastern medicine, dietary supplements... All of the things that I did to fight, and things I continue to do to stay healthy. Things that you might find beneficial for yourself, or someone that you know. You can read more on Rothie's CC Guide.

2008-05-04T17:39:00.000-07:00

Yea I know I promised a new blog post way back when. Well I was a little preoccupied. As a matter of fact there was something going on that really slowed me down.

2007-12-03T15:29:00.000-08:00

From the most recent EARS meeting, above is a somewhat blurry photo of Wes Dooley, the founder and owner of Audio Engineering Associates, (AEA). AEA specializes in big Ribbon Mics. Mics that use a ribbon-shaped element to pick up sound and convert it to an electrical signal. Back in the 1930's - 1950's RCA made a ribbon mic, the RCA 44, which is coveted even today for its awesome authentic warm tone - a sound that you cannot get from condenser or tube mics.

Eddie Van Halen and Pete Townsend swear by these mics. For a while these mics were hard to come by and collectors were hoarding them. Over the years, the mics have become so rare, that during the 1990's Wes & Co. accurately reproduced this mic to spec, and also spawned a line of mics built around the same principles for use in various specific recording applications. Some are made for close micing, Broadcasting, DJing, there is a stereo version, etc..

I didnt take any photos of the mics, (so I borrowed this one of the AEA 44. I hope no one minds too much.) But you can see them and hear recordings of them at work on Wes' website. They are a little expensive for the everyday recording enthusiast, but this is top-quality professional gear and well worth it. Other mics from AEA of note, the AEA R84 and R92 are two mics that I'd like to try recording some acoustic guitar on.

As a side-bar, meet "Franken-console." A special console for students at Columbia College. It contains two channels from different audio mixing boards, AMEK, Neumann, Philips, to name a few. Students get an opportunity to see how each console performs, and how each mic pre-amp in each strip adds its own unique color or character to the sound.

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OK lately I have been focusing on the technical side of music-making. Indeed, a person can spend so much time familiarizing themselves with equipment, they they are liable to become an audio engineer in the process. :) I have been spending a lot of time with new software, and sizing up new pieces of equipment I'd like to own some day. However, there is also an artistic side to music making and I plan to focus my writing on that next-- And put more song clips up for you to listen to as well.

EARS met at Planet 10 Studios in Barrington Oct 30th

2007-11-21T21:11:00.000-08:00

Yes Im a little late with the up-date.

Last month's EARS meeting was at James Johnson's Planet10 studios in Barrington.

We were treated to a tour, and a talk about James' history and the development of the Studio.

Above, James shows off some of his eclectic mic collection.

Below, in the control room with Charlie Kim of Zodiac Productions. James is longtime Nuedo user as opposed to Protools. He and many others say that Nuendo just sounds better and preserves greater detail in the recordings.

I apologize for the blurry photo.

For more info on Planet 10 studios visit: Planet10
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So what else is new? What are my current musings?

Well Im learning Reason 3 these days. Its going to be a welcome addition to my already overwhelming amount of synthesizers and software. I feel confident that I have more than enough to start producing some great new songs, that is as soon as I get a handle on this software.

I also happen to be working on a compilation CD. But it is still too early to talk about that.

What else am I geeking out about?

Well I eventually want to redesign the website, and make it less cluttered - reorganize the content. I hope to find someone to help with that.

EARS meeting at Chicago Mastering Service 9-25-07

2007-09-27T22:22:00.000-07:00

On a warm Tuesday night, EARS was welcomed at Chicago Mastering Service, the newest CD and Vinyl mastering studio in Chicago.

Shea Ako discusses how he designed and built the custom mastering console that you see in front of him. Shea has become very well known and is in high demand all over the city for his amazing technical abilities. Amongst many many other things, he also fully restored the Trident A-Range 32 channel mixing console at Soma Studios.

Attending the console (from right to left) Bob Weston, co-owner of Chicago Mastering Service; Harry Brotman, of Harry's Sonic Bistro; and Michael Kolar, owner of Soundscape Studios, and our EARS Vice President.

Jason Ward demonstrates how their vintage 1950s Neumann VMS70 lathe creates a vinyl master used in the production of albums. Album production has never ceased and is actually seeing a comeback in certain generas. Of course it is used quite a bit for DJ mixes of house, techno, and trance, etc. The Neumann colors the sound in a certain timeless "old-school" way that is highly sought after, and having one of the few cutting lathes in the city allows a mastering house to pursue a very select niche market.

As always, it was a fun and interesting night. Chicago Mastering Service is definately a place to consider when mastering your next project.

(From Left to Right) Kerry Haps, President of EARS, Shae Ako, Bob Weston, Jason Ward.

Listen! 5K ppl makes more music

2007-09-16T20:26:00.000-07:00

5k ppl (AKA: 5000 People) The ambient project of Jon Chambers and myself, got together for a one-day marathon of recording jams and whipped up 5 new pieces of improvised then processed ambience. This time using the Nord Lead 3, the Korg Microkorg, a Korg piano, a Boss Dr. Rhythm, Ableton Live, some Quadraverbs, oh and even a real bass guitar - wee heeeeee.

Once again any sane Fire Marshall would have given us a stern lecture. Just look at how we throw caution to the wind and overload the power strips. We cant help it, this is electronic music we're making.. and that needs lotsa electricity - DUH!

What started as an afternoon jam session turned into a quest for the perfect Buffalo Wing dinner. Gators in Wheeling was our first choice, being voted #1 in the area. But they were closed on a Saturday at 5:30.. what's up with that? So we meandered over to another highly acclaimed Wing maker, Buffalo Joe's in Evanston. Talk about wanting wings.

But dont let me digress. We are talking about music here.
Have a listen:

Mr Hughes
(Imagine this in the background of Sixteen Candles?)

Piano
(A simple piece to massage the eardrums.)

Overall it was a productive time. I wanted to see how the MircoKorg complements the Nord and Jon enjoyed the digital piano. Of course these are rough ideas that may show up later. There is still more to come from Five Thousand People. A finished CD is still on the way. Stay tuned..

House Party in Pilsen

2007-09-01T07:35:00.000-07:00

What a great time I had at a house party in Pilsen last weekend thrown by my friend Alexander Bassett. His parties are totally cool and have a totally home-grown flavor. Alexander and I have known each other for a couple of years. He has been instrumental in teaching me various music software like Ableton Live. EDMX was in town from London and looking for a place to play, so it all worked out quite well.

Here is EDMX (DMX Krew) making the beats and a video artist using a Mac laptop is behind him sending out the visuals.

I met a beautiful Brazillian girl named Juliana. She was really attractive and was in town for a few weeks to learn English. We talked for a little while. She kissed me on the cheek. I got her number, but she was with a group of travelers and when I called her the next day, an gruff Brazilian guy answered and hung up on me. harumph..

Its pretty amazing what you can do with the right software, and a USB video projector from Officemax. The whole musical experience is now shrunk down to laptops..

Listen to and download DMX Krew DJ sets
Visit DMX here
Visit Alexander Bassett's Myspace here

Its a Dawgs life

2007-07-25T12:15:00.000-07:00

Summer fun in Chicago. This photo was snapped while walking around the Old Town Art Fair earlier this summer. Photography has long been another artistic passion of mine. I usually carry my camera around with me everywhere like a street photographer. When I see the photo, I like to take the shot. Sometimes, if people are in it, they like it, sometimes they dont. But I can tell you this much, I take a lot of great photos. In this case, this dog is happy to pose.

2007-06-03T12:38:00.000-07:00

Jace's dad had a variety of hobbies, any one of which is classified as cool. Whether it was taking off and flying around the neighborhood in his gyrocopter, making his own fireworks and shooting home-made potato guns, riding motorcycles, or driving around town in his street-legalized formula-one race car. He certainly knew how to live life to the fullest. The photo above is of a rocket he made himself, and was launched at his Memorial Service held in May.

Now Back to the music..

2007-05-28T09:35:00.000-07:00

What I have been working on.

Come here and lemme pick your nose...

It is a fine Spring day and the temperature is the best yet. The sun is shining and the air is fresh. So I figure I'll stay indoors. Stay indoors and experiment musically that is, with some new instruments. No, I didnt give up playing the guitar. I just got into other things. A Korg Piano and a MicroKorg synth. It's a growth spurt. In part from my experiences in EARS, partly from my collaborations with Jon Chambers, and partly from my solo time doing 'Solos.' Ive always enjoyed producing my own stuff, and I like playing keyboards too. People always ask me if I used any synths on 'Solos.' No, those are all guitars; guitars in different tunings, and different mic recording arrangements. I dont know how you hear synths in there. But anyways nevermind. These days, experimenting with some electronica and other instruments, sounds like fun to me.

Clowning around is hard work. But, yea I have been sketching out some new stuff. Definately. I will post some of it for you to listen to soon. It will be a departure from the all-guitar stuff from the past, so be ready...

I have to be honest. All this work makes me tired as a matter of fact. I am feeling sleepy right now. This is tough stuff.. Its all just too much for me.....I must rest..

Mmmm..must eat every morsal.

2007-05-20T21:15:00.000-07:00

First I took a photo of it, and then I ate it. Then I had another plate and another one and... Friends and I got together for the sushi special at Ringo, on Lincoln Avenue in Chicago. Why does my tummy ache? 'cause it was soo goood. hmm...

Woah - gotta back it up...

2007-05-17T21:25:00.000-07:00

The following three blogs are me catching up and making good on writing about current events...

OK the first thing that I should tell you is that there has been some progress made with the 'Five Thousand People' CD. For some of you who dont know, the 5Kppl project "Five Thousand People" is an ambient collaboration between Jon Chambers and myself.
The recordings took place in September of 2006 in a small mountain town in Colorado called Alma. There he is in the picture playing the drums back at his place.

Jon did a lot of keyboard work with his Nord Lead 3.

The Nord. It's Swedish, and it's amazing.

Listen: Mountain Bike, a jam we did with the Nord.

(You can listen to more music and read about 'Five Thousand People' and the trip to Colorado here.)

In early April, Jon Chambers gave me a call to say he was going to be in town. We met up at Shula's Steakhouse where we ate football-sized steaks. Kansas City Strip mm mmm... Even the menu was written on a football which was funny cause it conjured up ideas of telling the waiter to go for a Hail Mary. But overall the food was great. We agreed that we were going to start getting things ready to go into a studio to edit and remix our tracks.

The studio that we are focused on is SOMA Electronic Music Studio, in Chicago. It is owned and operated by John McEntire, who aside from being an accomplished producer and engineer, is also the drummer for Tortoise.

See article by Jim DeRogatis: Tortoise’s JOHN McENTIRE: Post-Rock’s Sonic Genius

and check out the studio here:

Soma Electronic Music Studios

The studio has a lot of history. Stereolab, Tortoise, The Sea and Cake. You've heard 'em.

Welcome

2007-03-31T13:33:00.000-07:00

An EARS meeting onstage at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Well here it is... A new blog for you to read and for me to spill the beans about everything that is going on. You can catch a 4am story every once in a while, a regular "What's new with the Music" column, some venting here and there.. Improv stories, photography, observations and soul searching, whatever inspires me...

Host and Grammy winning Engineer, Chris Willis, discussing the use of overhead and spot mics in the hall.

Current EARS officers (from left to right): Myself - Treasurer, Kerry Haps - President, Michael Kolar - Vice President, and Chris Cwiak - Secretary.