I Was an Atomic Retro Zombie

In the "too late to help this time around" department, it turns out that Garage Band has a feature that attempts to keep instrument tracks matching the prescribed beat. It only works while recording though, so no help for the massive editing task before me. :(

I wasn't able to record today because of a noisy storm during my two-hour recording window. I've really got to sound-proof my room...

I was able to finish writing the tenor ukulele part, which is more of a bass line than what I've been thinking of as the bass line. I'd been thinking it was more of a counter-melody anyway, so I guess that clenches it. The MIDI of the sheet music sounds much better with the new part, so I feel good to have thought about adding it.

I should try to finish writing the melody line this afternoon. There's only about eight measures left...

I've recorded the rhythm ukulele part multiple times with an electric/acoustic and a resonator. The mandolin part was recorded with a fifths-tuned uke, and I think I'll leave out the mandolin itself for now. I like the sound I got, and it's a rather difficult part that would only be harder with a pick and metal strings.

I've decided to add some fills, so I'm writing a part for tenor ukulele. I'm about halfway done and should finish that tomorrow sometime. It's an easy part, so I should be able to record it quickly. I hope.

The guitar part isn't finished yet. It's not too complicated, but I have practically no experience with electric guitar or slides so I'll need a _lot_ of practice before attempting to record it anyway. After I get the tenor uke part recorded, I'll finish writing the guitar part and start practicing.

Also, I'll have to start the massive task of editing it...

After repeatedly breaking the E string on my uke with mando tuning, I took a jeweler's file to the bridge mount where the string anchors. That's where it keeps breaking, so I hope I got the rough edge knocked down.

I'm currently learning the rhythm part that I wrote for the ukulele. It's pretty gymnastic for my fingers yet, but I should be able to get it down well enough by next week. Fortunately the mando part is a lot easier, so I shouldn't take too long to learn it.

That's for my original song. There's a holiday song that I want to record next week as well, but I've only written out the arrangement for the verse and chorus parts - no bridges or grooves or anything else. And of course I haven't started to learn it yet. Ah well, I have until the end of November really.

I've restrung all of my main ukuleles, and I've finished writing the parts I want to record this month. That gives me two weeks to break in strings and practice, practice, practice! I'll be recording tracks for an original song as well as my arrangement of "We Three Kings". There's more do to for both pieces, but this month should get me most of the way there.

I've also opened a youtube account, that I hope to start using by the end of the year. That'll be used to host videos for the redesigned website (work on which has been pushed to the background to allow for recording).

I need more me to go around, dangit.

Finally got JRuby installed on my PC. This means I can start doing the rewrite of http://bigdamnspider.com . I'm going to try to keep it pretty much the same to save time for the initial relaunch, but there are some things that are quick to fix that need changing. Like the zombie rating. What the hell was I thinking? Spider-themed site, using zombies to rate. Sheesh.

The big change is going to be the front page. Web of the Big Damn Spider is now going to be the host of a variety of things, not just the movie threads. The home page needs to reflect that.

And yes, this means that I'll be adding new movies and threads. Part of the point of the rewrite is to make it so easy to add content that I can do it while I watch the movies! Booyah!

Franz's World
Hey kids! There's a new Franz's World!

Also, I finally made an icon for it. Fun with istockphoto and Photoshop!

I've got the main parts of the new song written for slide guitar now. I need to write the boogie section yet, and then do the coda for both guitar and mandolin. Then review and add some fills and follows with another uke (probably the tenor because it's shiny and new).

Then, maaaaaybe, I can start recording...

I'm at about the mid-point of the mandolin part for my new song, which really means that I'm almost done. There's one bit to work out where the song shifts from a space march to a swingy dance hall number for a handful of measures, then the rest is just repetitions of earlier parts. I'm eager to work in a part for my new tenor uke, but I really should move to the melody next. Once the bottleneck guitar part is written, I'll have a much better sense of what I need in the way of fills and boosts.

Spend most of the weekend programming (I work for fun, go figure), but I did work out the hardest part of my sci-fi song. I wanted to write in a part where the song switches scenes to a dance hall. Then the monster attacks in a bit of clashing themes, and the song stabilizes and returns to just the silly ambling monster rhythm.

Clearly, I listen to Ives a bit too much for a starting composer...

Music nerdery follows:

Anyway, the song is in Em and I realized that I could leverage the Am chord of the key to switch to the key of C (Am and C have the same number of sharps and flats. None.), and the G chord of that to switch to the key of G for the dance hall. Since the C chord is in G, I can introduce the main theme's Am part during the dance hall's C.

This is gonna be hella fun. :D

A Meme I Can Get Behind
A (very small) collage based on my listed interests.

( My Interests Collage! )

I had a good night with the uke last night. I need to spend more time with my stringed pretties. I still haven't finished the rhythm part of my next song, but I did write the uke tabs for most of what is there. I have to finish a noodly bit and then just drop in repetitions of earlier phrases. It should clock in right around two minutes, which frankly fits right into the ethos of Ukubilly that I've been developing...

I've discovered that "Beep Beep" is a fantastic warm-up for ukulele. It only uses two strings, but you need to use a minimum of 7 frets and it speeds up every time through.

My uke went plink, plink, plink (plink! plink!)

Picked up a small booklet on using slides for guitars. There were a few decent tips just flipping through it, so that was good enough for a purchase. Also got a book with chord progressions for different uke types in different styles. Not essential, but at the price a handy enough reference.

The music store across from my office is having a sale.

I wish I needed something, as opposed to merely wanting things. Maybe I'll see if they have the Warren Zevon songbook. That's arguably a necessity.

Turns out the song I'm actually working on is an instro. I plan to use my VeeWee with a bottle-neck slide and see how far I can distort it. With luck it'll sound vaguely like a theriman, but I don't expect that will be the case. Should be fun, though.

Also, I need to finish a script for Nate this month.

Also part two, I need to finish a "special project" for Mr. Lehnerer.

Today I began to sift through stacks
Of statements, receipts and stuff
So that we can calculate our tax
And see if we've paid enough

Wyeth saw the vet
For yearly shots and exam
He hates us today

Worked from home today
My wife was not feeling well
I got a lot done

I'm currently battering a number of songs until one of them resembles a shape. I hope to be recording again by spring. The likeliest candidates are a stream-of-consciousness autobiographical punk song or a skiffle version of a traditional folk song with new lyrics about my cat throwing up.

I'm not aiming for the Top 40 market. :)

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