HeavyConfetti has it's own domain now, (HeavyConfetti.com), so I will probably be abandoning this particular blog, or transferring it to the present site. My first CD is scheduled for an October release. Right now I am mastering and adding bits and pieces, finalizing.... I should be ready to "burn" by the end of the month. I've completed the CD design and labels, etc.

  posted by Tony Hubert @ 9/15/2001 09:04:50 PM

 
Listening today to the Guy Smiley Blues exchange. My, how they rock and swing. Similar to the Martin/Medeski/Wood vein, but rocking much harder, with more chops to burn. an all out jamming kind of group like this is what I kind of have in mind....For live performances, this is the shit, man.

Guy Smiles Blues Exchange

  posted by Tony Hubert @ 7/6/2001 04:11:03 PM

 
Ah, I don't have to play after all. Events have turned and the band lather has diminished. Now I can focus on finishing the graphics. I'm looking forward to focusing solely on my own projects. I already have a logo for HC and ideas for "theme" albums that will span the many genres I enjoy; there'll be a great deal of cross-pollination of course, but it's a way to organize the many works I have underway at the moment...

  posted by Tony Hubert @ 6/21/2001 01:29:57 PM

 
Eeek. Man, I am so very very rusty. I'll have to play for some time consistently to get really fluid and comfortable around a drum kit. When I was an active drummer I played every day, for hours at a time, practicing rythms, rudiments and licks, playing with the stereo.... Now I just don't see where I'll have that kind of time. And the wife is no doubt right: that I am again losing focus. The real emphasis ought to be on guitar, and my own compositions. 'Nutha lessons learned kinda thing, I guess...

  posted by Tony Hubert @ 6/15/2001 08:03:03 AM

 
Interesting turn of events: I will be playing drums for WildGardin--whose forthcoming CD package I designed. I have two weeks to get up to speed on about two hours worth of tunes. No problem, eh? It's been a while since I performed on the drums, but I'm looking forward to banging on a kit again. I just have to remember that I'm not Billy Cobham, and in fact most musicians don't want that kind of busy-ness in their rythm section. This may also be an opportunity to mix a few of my own songs into the playlist and play guitar live for the first time in about five years. I've been too much editing and recording over the last few years, now is the time to get out and perform. Robert Fripp says, "The record is a love song, while the live performance is a hot date...."

  posted by Tony Hubert @ 6/13/2001 08:14:30 AM

 
Listening to some of my homemade jams this morning on the way to work, I recalled perhaps the two greatest complements that have ever been paid to me as a musician. The first was given to me when I was in the army. I had been sitting on my bed, I guess really getting into some heavy licks on the guitar. A brother had been watching me. He said, with a slight sense of awe, "You bad as fuck, ain't cha?" The second complement came some years later from some women who had been listening to me from outside my apartment. She said, "You play beautifully." So I thought this morning that, shit, I had truly arrived without knowing it, if you know what I mean. I am "bad as fuck" and I am "beautiful." That's just the greatest, man. Everything else I do is "gravy...." :-)

  posted by Tony Hubert @ 6/7/2001 08:14:20 AM

 
"Commoditize thyself." Let us update the Socratic dictum for our present age. While this Socrates revisited may disgust us, we have to face the "music." Ain't nobody goin' out to buy Karlheinz Stockhausen rock. However, to be optimistic, I might posit that there is indeed an audience for my music, that I may be the mouth for at least a few ears, to quote Nietzsche. Forcing one's music into categories represents the real challenge. Much of my music spans many genres, sometimes all in the same tune. But I suppose I could narrow these down if I really tried. So really try, man.

  posted by Tony Hubert @ 5/8/2001 10:40:40 AM

 
Concept for video/music piece: show Mozart conducting symphony, then cut to 21st century, with someone answering their cell phone, which is cheesily playing the same symphony with that ever so annoying 80's-era casio machine quality....

  posted by Tony Hubert @ 5/1/2001 08:37:42 AM

 
Long time, no scribble in HC. Last night I took a recording I digitized from a cassette I had made in basic training, over 15 years ago, and extracted samples from it. I then fired up Acid and had a blast piecing them all together in a kind of loony, acid jazz composition. I'll probably add some lead guitar and some synth for extra punch later, but I'm happy with the order of the samples. I must have created over thirty digital snippets! Only one or two didn't make the cut. When I think of the stress of that time period, and the fact that I was only 23 years old, I am amazed. I would never have thought then that this stupid recording of the last couple days of basic training would result in a "found sound" music collage in the year 2001.

  posted by Tony Hubert @ 4/19/2001 08:14:15 AM

 
Everything is stolen. Intellectual "property" is illusory. Are all things, therefore, "lawful"? Ivan Karamozov might argue thus, before taking Zoloft and chilling somewhat. Imagine someone copyrighting, say an EMajor chord, and all it's possible inversions (or the most "commonly used" inversions). Everytime you use EMajor, ya gotta pony up to the owner, divulge a chunk of change just for the privilege of using that chord. Then artist/lawyers will patent various abacab musical formats. Songs such as U2's "Desire", The Romantics "What I like about You," and John Cougar Mellanhead's "Rockin' in the USA," which all have the same three chord structure (E-A-D, with a sometimes B for the bridge/turnaround) will never be heard again without significant royalties paid to the owner of that E-A-D chordprogression (I use the word "progression" loosely). Come to think of it, Van Halen used somewhat the same chord structure for "Panama" (though with a somewhat more complex bridge, using C#minor to B). The E chord would be a good one to copyright, because that's the most used chord in all popular music, particularly metal and "hard rock." This is so guitarists can do all kinds of fun, convenient and sophisticated sounding open string stuff to wow the kiddies and other non-guitarists. If this all sounds ridiculous, consider that Michael "mutant" Jackson holds the copyright to "Happy Birthday" and I think "He's a jolly good fellow." Sing these songs at your own risk! Some people wanna fill the world with swilly love songs. And what's wrong with that? I'm beginning to ramble now, so I'll continue this little spew in I advance, blogged.....

  posted by Tony Hubert @ 3/30/2001 11:45:24 AM

 
The time has come to stop populating my hard drive with unfinished symphonies. I am going to attempt to focus on a finite number of songs, hone and polish them for their destination onto CDs. I'll divide the tunes into their respective genres (though of course this is arbitrary, more for the sake of appeasing those who need categories than anything else). So here they are: 1. Acoustic (chiefly acoustic guitar stuff, classically, flamenco, jazz/blues oriented). 2. Electronica. 3. Sound Collage 4. Spoken word 5. Experimental 6. SpeedMetal/Punk 7. Miscellaneous. These categores should be loosely worn.....

  posted by Tony Hubert @ 3/27/2001 07:50:53 AM

 
I've put down the Ibanez Sabre and have begun playing the Ibanez Roadstar. The roadstar is heavier, clunkier and older, with a less sophisticated tremelo/pickup system, but I'm finding I like the fretboard better. It's closer in design to a Fender Strat. In a sense, the Roadstar is akin to the Takamine in that maintenance and adjusting of the action is so much simpler than the Sabre. So for the time being, I will use the Sabre for guitar synth stuff and the Roadstar for rythm/lead guitar.....

  posted by Tony Hubert @ 3/22/2001 07:59:00 AM

 
I think the time has come to get a new electric guitar. The ibanez and I have been together for over ten years, and to be honest, I've always felt dissatisfied. I think I shall visit some guitar shops and play around with some axes until I find one I like. I know that one doesn't have to spend thousands of dollars; I've played on expensive "Jackson" guitars that I hated and I've played on cheap "Yamahas" that were magical. So, I suppose I shall now commence the search...The Takamine is still the same wonderful guitar I played in the music store, seven years ago. This is probably due to the fact that the Takamine is a much simpler guitar: easier to string up and much much easier to adjust the action. The Ibanez with the FloydRose tremelo pickup system is just a nightmare to get working the way you want. Restringing is just hell. And I don't fight with the Takamine--playing is so easy. With the Ibanez, I feel I am struggling against the guitar to play with any degree of facility. So though I will still use the Ibanez for guitar synth stuff, I'm looking for another axe for everything else....

  posted by Tony Hubert @ 3/16/2001 08:33:10 AM

 
Well, since I've lately grown tired of "canned" drums (they still sound a bit cheesy to me, even the more sophisticated drum machines) I have "hired" Jazz stalwart drummer Peter Erskine for my little group. That is to say, I bought his drum loops CD over the weekend. It should arrive sometime this week, maybe even as early as tomorrow. I've always preferred the sound of a "live" drummer; there's an energy and spirit, I suppose, that just can't be equaled by electronic drums, at least not yet. So I'm looking forward to incorporating the dynamism and impeccable timing and taste of Mr. Erskine into my music.

Restrung the Takamine Classical acoustic/electric Saturday. New strings feel great. I'm coming to find that my "true" instrument is indeed the acoustic guitar. I still love my Ibanez, and shredding now and then, but the classical guitar seems so much more poignant, tragic.... This coupled with the fact that I like the action on the Takamine better than the electric, which I can rarely ever get configured to my satisfaction. Either the action is too high, too low, or something else is wrong. I can't remember ever in the ten years I've had the guitar being completely satisfied with it's settings. I've considered getting a different guitar, but I guess have a sentimental attachment to the Ibanez. The other factor of course influencing my discontent, other than intrinsic perfectionism, is the lack of GIT time, of sheer practice time where you do nothing but hone the chops. Amid the multifarious dimensions of my life, playing scales and arpeggios for four hours a day just isn't practical....

  posted by Tony Hubert @ 3/12/2001 04:27:12 PM

 
Since popular music relies on "hooks" to ensnare a person's attention and get them humming the tune, it is a form of muzak, kind of in a "raw" form. Most pop music serves to make one "feel good" about oneself, even some of the "grungiest" alt.angst rock. Music which has any degree of dissonance or alternative time signature is rarely given airplay, because it doesn't *sound* pretty. And while I don't particularly want to hear, say, Penderecki or Stockhausen while in an airport, I'd like to hear a greater freedom of thematic expression in popular music...On the muzak thing, I've always had a desire to orchestrate Van Halen's *Running with the Devil* with that Mantovani sound, 101 strings and a "Christy Minstrel" type choir singing Dave Lee Roth's lyrics. Who knows? I wouldn't be surprised to be loitering in Kmart and hear the Sex Pistols with strings. Last note: I once knew a drug addict (who is now dead) who called muzak, quote, "Shoplifting music."

  posted by Tony Hubert @ 3/9/2001 12:23:41 PM

 
The more money comes up as the main issue in the Napster thing, the less I care about Napster's survival, and in fact I kinda hope they get killed. I am not an advocate for those pernicious vultures, the huge record companies and media conglomerates either, but I can't help but feel that both Napsterites and Corporate suits are missing the whole point here. You wanna make money? Get into junk bonds, or real estate, or capitalize on human stupidity with another "pet rock." Leave music alone. So I say fuck Napster, and Sony and all of 'em. As a musician I will work that much harder on my own music, and enjoy the fruits of being a CREATOR, rather than a CONSUMER. The rewards of creation are contained in the process itself. Perhaps God knew this (being omnipotent, he probably had at least a clue). Making money (as main goal in life, which seems the going raison d'etre of the species) is generally a parasitic activity, for the most part. It is a feeding off of the talents of others. Society is unfortunately primarily fueled by such scavenging. One can "smell the decomposition." (Nietzsche's characterization of the work of Schopenhauer).

  posted by Tony Hubert @ 3/8/2001 08:24:13 AM

 
Last night I took samples from some of Olivier Messiaen's organ music and made kind of a bizarre sound collage out of them. For grins, I took a Louie Armstrong sample from "You Rascal You" where he says, "I'll sure be glad when you dead, ha ha haaaaaa..." And it worked beautifully in this one section! I also worked on "Lil Piece of the Universe"--a classic tune first created in 1994. I tried to break up the rythm guitar parts and make them work, but it just wasn't happening. So I had to go ahead and re-record it. Sounds better, anyway, I think. I was just too lazy to re-record anything....On the bummer side: the key line from Danny Glover, "I'm holdin' on to a little piece of the universe," I accidentally recorded over on the source cassette. That sample is crucial to the song, so I'll have to go to the dreaded Blockbuster and rent the damn thing (The Saint of Forth Washington) just for the sample.

  posted by Tony Hubert @ 3/6/2001 01:03:22 PM

 
I have spent far too much time as an editor. I know this, because everytime I go to record something with the acoustic guitar, I suck. My mind knows what it wants to do, but my wrist and fingers seem so sluggish. They have ADHD or something. So I've simply got to put more time into practicing, the old fashioned way, with the acoustic guitar. This piece I worked on last night took me so many takes I lost count. The first guitar part didn't take quite so long, but the second was about impossible to get. To be fair, the second part IS harder than the first; there's much more moving around the fretboard in the second part. But I felt brain dead that I couldn't get it in a few takes. Oh well. I know guitarists who are just naturals, who can go without picking an axe for months and then just pick one up and start wailing. Well, I'm not one of them, unfortunately. While I have developed some considerable technical skill (especially when nicely warmed up) I have to practice constantly or these chops just go away. I mean, I can always play slower and with more feeling, but the ripping scales and modal work I enjoy are much more difficult to negotiate. Of course, my perfectionism comes into play here as well. With the electric guitar, there's not as much demand, you can get away with being slightly sloppy. The acoustic, however, is not forgiving. Every fretnoise, squeak, squawk can be heard, and can annoy if you focus too much on them. I tried once to just use the classical guitar in my GR30 synth, but it's just not organic sounding enough. You don't get fret noises, but then you also don't get the warmth and I guess the humanity you're looking for. I just have to be mindful about practicing, more on the Takamine classical than the Ibanez Sabre.

  posted by Tony Hubert @ 3/2/2001 12:20:52 PM

 
The ego is such a petty thing, but it can be so limiting. I remember when I first began playing guitar I didn't want to hear other people play because I felt so inferior, and like I could never get to their level. I'd listen to John McLaughlin and Allan Holdsworth, of course, because to me these guys were close to "gods"! Now I'm glad I can watch and listen to all kinds of musicians and see the value they all bring to music. My own technique has come a long way, and I am fairly comfortable with the style that has evolved within me over the years. The compulsion to "shred" has for the most part left me, and now I seek to play more elegantly, and with a keener ear to the musical context in which I'm placed. I do have my own voice--and that's the important thing. I enjoy Randy Cobb's playing because he makes it all look so easy. He has a fairly polished style which tastefully blends country, blues, rock and jazz. My own style is pretty much jazz, rock, blues and latin oriented. Lately I've been composing stuff with samples from Messiaen's organ concertos; this really pushes my limitations! I get ideas in my head for lead sections, but when I get to the fretboard it takes a while to get them down.

  posted by Tony Hubert @ 2/26/2001 01:08:05 PM

 
Major score today: I downloaded Billy Cobham's "La Guernica" off of Napster!!!! This is one of the most seminal smoking tunes of the jazz-fusion era, in my opinion, and I hadn't been able to track it down. Now it be mine! The music gods be smilin' 'pon me.

Tonight wife and I are going to check out Randy Cobb and David Crane at a local coffee shop. Should be fun. Maybe I can study Randy's fingerwork and see how he does those wonderful artificial harmonics....

  posted by Tony Hubert @ 2/24/2001 05:21:41 PM

 
Last night I pieced together samples from a primitive recording I made in 1986; I'd only been playing guitar for three years. I was probably nursing a twelve pack when I recorded this stuff, but there's some redeeming qualities. Who knew? Who knew back in 1986 that this chickenshit recording made with a boombox would make it to an acidified musical arrangement in 2001? This is really a kick. I called the song, "don't 86 me..." An appropriate title for the time, which I won't go into....

  posted by Tony Hubert @ 2/22/2001 08:51:57 AM

 
Wild Gardin has been approved by MP3.com, and will be going live shortly. I've posted all four of the songs they submitted, and uploaded bios/info and logo pic.

My own music takes a backseat to more domestic and dayjob affairs, unfortunately, but I am making progress. Over the past weekend I spent alot of time creating samples--some from old tapes, and some using my guitar synth and my effects processor. Many of these samples I make are just because they sound "cool" and I have no idea how or if they will ever find their way into some kind of integrated musical piece. I generally try to stay in the keys of e and a--something I notice Acid samples do. One can generally pitch shift to other keys, usually with little loss of sound quality. Anyway, the day following the samplefest, I decided to go ahead and try to create a couple tunes with them. I was presently surprised to come up with two songs immediately, both rather unique sounding. In my sampling, I had dug up an old tape I made probably fifteen years ago, from a record I borrowed from the library! The recording was of Georgia Sea Island musicians, mainly vocals. I had thought some years back about sampling some of this stuff and using it, but hadn't gotten around to it. This music is raw, blues and gospel based, and of course steeped in the old testament. But my how the samples worked great in a couple pieces I made! I was surprised how easily it all came--and without any pitch shifting at all! The one sample "kneebone bend" (about praying) I integrated within an uplifting, acid jazz/techno type thing; the other sample, "Death in the Morning" I placed within a D minor trip hop groove that just haunts the shit out of me. I'm sure the original singers are long since dead, but their indomitable spirit lives on.

  posted by Tony Hubert @ 2/21/2001 07:54:58 AM

 
A local band has asked me to put up a site for them on MP3.com. I'm going to convert four of their songs to MP3 format, take some pictures and develop a site. They essentially want to have an URL where club owners can go and check out their music. The band wants more gigs. This is an interesting idea. The last time I was in a band I wanted less gigging, and more practice and recording. So I guess that's what I'm doing now, though I miss the buzz you can get from performing live. Maybe sometime this year I'll hit the coffeeshops again, who knows?

  posted by Tony Hubert @ 2/15/2001 07:54:31 PM

 
I burned another "Crude"(number 4) CD for listening and analyzing in the car. I decided to normalize all the songs at -6db. Well, this was good for some of the tunes which needed a boost, but horrible for others, that were definitely high enough already. The problem is when you normalize and there's a great deal of space or noise in the piece, too much normalizing amplifies the noise as well as the main content. A couple of the tunes really had me grooving, and others had me cringing. They all of course need work, and some more than others. The idea of listening to the crude cuts is to envision in my ear's eye (?) what I want to add or change. I usually leave solo guitar stuff out, so I can think up solos in my mind and later apply them to the actual mix. You can tell the cuts on the CD that are more polished, and to which I've devoted more time.

  posted by Tony Hubert @ 2/14/2001 12:02:33 PM

 
Seems I just begin making some headway and it's time to go to prepare for the following day, go to bed.... I suppose this is the struggle of the day-job musician: You get home, settle in, eat dinner, converse with the family, do dishes, check email, then do some editing/creating. RE: Editing/Creating, I am finding that it's easier sometimes to separate the two activities, even though they are of course directly related. When you combine the two, sometimes the creative force ends up yielding to the "economy" mindedness of the editing process, and you get a somewhat stilted sounding project. But with Acid, this is difficult, because editing can be done so easily, so on the fly. Then you get caught up with that which loops, and that which is a one shot, all in an effort to create something that sounds fluid, as natural as possible.

  posted by Tony Hubert @ 2/13/2001 08:20:14 AM

 
I continue, chipping away at recording, mixing, sampling and practicing. I probably have enough songs for a CD, once they are mastered to my satisfaction, which of course will take a while. But I feel positive about where my music is headed, in it's usual eclectic trudge.....

  posted by Tony Hubert @ 2/6/2001 09:13:32 AM

 
An interesting state of affairs: once you become involved in mixing, editing, sampling, compositing and so on, you don't spend as much time practicing your instrument, the "old fashioned" way--that is, playing scales, learning new chord progressions, positions and so on. So while I have been swept up into acid mania, I realize that I need to break periodically to go back and practice on just the guitar--often the acoustic guitar, just to get in touch with my roots, so to speak. The challenge with Acid in using it for "standard" musical composition is to make music that "breathes," i.e., doesn't sound like it's rigidly conforming to a timecode. Fortunately with the program you can, like most graphics software, apply a "snap to grid" mode or turn it off toggle-like as desired. Then a balance between looping and "realtime" sounding stuff can be achieved, with some effort.

  posted by Tony Hubert @ 1/18/2001 08:24:55 AM

 
I know I'm on a roll with Acid. I'm now using the program for even my "standard" musical stuff; the capability to do multiple takes in realtime, then take the best out of them is just a great thing. Often because of laziness, I'd just settle for the first take, even though I wasn't satisfied with it. Now I can set a particular section to just loop and loop and then play solos until I get what I want. Very cool.

  posted by Tony Hubert @ 1/12/2001 09:47:00 AM