Tag: cello

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Yesterday REDWOOD SUMMER finally made its way onto iTunes which signified a kind of final touch to the release of an album. (JUNEAUREVOIR is still on its way there)…

So how does an album come about from start to finish? I’ll tell you the story of REDWOOD SUMMER…

Basically a year ago I decided I was going to record a new album… the steam had stopped whistling for MIDNIGHT DOOR and it was time to explore new songs again. Only I became distracted when making MIDNIGHT DOOR… I was frustrated that I had recorded all these songs off that album without having a real live setup for performing them. The songs were written on the road and out in the world, not the usual where you try out songs live generally before they make it on the album. I was stripping the songs on MIDNIGHT DOOR down to the drum and bass tracks and pressing play on my ipod and performing along. Which, I have come to accept, is totally legit, especially of course if it is YOUR music you are playing along to, your beats, your sounds. I used to think it was not so legit, until I saw a few performances that incorporated the same technique, and it didn’t feel or seem weird to me at all. One caveat of this is that I really think if you play along to beats it HAS to be electronic… it’s true to me that playing along to ‘real’ sounding drums from a machine is kind of cheesy looking/sounding (in my opinion). Plus, then you are truly playing with the whole organic meets electronic thing, which does yield some interesting results and feels very much a part of our times. I think I like Thom Yorke’s solo stuff so much because he is able to work with (besides the brilliantly abstracted beats and great compositions) his raw voice, very plainly effected, wafting over the top of what feels like a Bladerunner landscape.

Holy tangent.

Anywaaaaays, the point is is that I got distracted by working on beats and effects that I could perform live, without accompaniment, and most importantly, which left lots of room for improvisation if necessary. My thing with electronic music and all music really is that if there is no room for improvisation at all, if it is super super polished and things are always done “perfectly” and the same, it is not really music. It’s theater. Which is fine. But I feel like at the core of music is the subconscious and its yearning to budge in and elbow things around here and there. I feel like it’s about the emotions of a room becoming one with the music. Et cetera.

So I worked on that and played a few different art party type things, improvising cello over beats around set songs and making the beats go this way and that and using lots of effects.

How did that lead to REDWOOD SUMMER which is very organic and non-electronic? Well, I just kind of missed making bedroom acoustic guitar anthems. I got so far away from home with that stuff that I really felt sentimental about sitting down and writing poetic lyrics by a fire with an acoustic guitar. Which is EXACTLY what happened with the writing of REDWOOD SUMMER… we had the opportunity to house sit a really beautiful house in Nevada County, with vistas of the foothills and gorgeous star filled skies, and there was a woodstove and no tv and no internet and the evenings were cozy and quiet. And I just started writing songs like crazy.

Most songs you hear on REDWOOD SUMMER were written in a three week period in January (more irony). Usually the process was to just grab ideas quickly, really as quickly as possible, meaning not interrupting the flow of musical idea by writing it down… this time I just used a handheld recorder, played through a new “song”, whether it was finished or not, and then started another. If it was any good, I kept it and worked on it. I’m not sure what my lyrics sound like to you, but you might be surprised to know there was a pretty good amount of polish on them. Obviously I’m not a real storytelling songwriter, but I do like to make the words work their own story and set their own stage. I spent a lot of time on various pretentious preconditions that I won’t bore you with.

I really wanted to record these songs to album as quickly as I was writing them, but you know, life gets in the way. We had to leave that housesitting gig but actually ended up returning in April I believe it was. By this time I was anxious to get this REDWOOD SUMMER thing on tape, I had a good sense of what I was doing and what I wanted, and I didn’t want it to slip by… so I set up my recording equipment in the upstairs bathroom of this great house, which had a really big all tile shower. I fit all my mics in that shower. I liked the closeness of the sound that the mics picked up in there. I tried just doing things simply, getting good guitar takes first and foremost. A huge part of REDWOOD SUMMER was playing guitar a lot again, so it was important to lay that down. Another part of the album though was actually, really, fully incorporating the cello into the main thrust of the song, making the cello NOT a supporting instrument but the center of the sound.

So what I wanted, by the way, was a country album. Well, not a country album in the traditional sense, but an album that felt like the places I’d grown up, the woods. I’m not sure that that makes sense or that it translates at all, but that’s why you have side A with its sparkly, sunny, swaying rhythms, and side B with its darker undertones. It feels like meadows and forest to me, it feels like Northern California to me. And of course, I wanted the process to be more “like it used to be” when I wrote songs: the edge of a bed in a lonely room to sit on, a quiet spot on earth, and no “coolness” filtration, no “authenticity” filtration, no input whatsoever from the “tastemakers“.

So I got most of the basic tracks down. I recorded cello and guitar, and I sang most lead vocals.

By that time it was May and soooooo much more time had gone by than I wanted.

The last four months of album making are probably the strangest for an independent musician. You gotta understand, when you are working full time and being a musician in your other time, there is no label pressure for a drop date, there is no pressure whatever, and so it is very very easy to let albums slide along and before you know it it takes 5+ years to finish an album. I have seen this happen many times, and I just really wouldn’t like the feeling. For one, or perhaps the main thing is that I try and capture a specific window of time/my life/my thoughts/the world in my albums, and if it takes more than a year it just seems like too much input on that front, too many influences. I mean, I had already been completely influenced by the Nevada City music scene subconsciously… I really thought that the mountain melodies and rocky yuba campfire cabin ghost song vibe wouldn’t get to me through Mariee Sioux, Alela Diane, Casual Fog, Them Hills and others, but they did, dammit I admit it, they did influence me. They inspired me to return to my personal truth being the core of the music. Purity of vision, untampered. It was really playing with Aaron Ross that had this affect on me the most. I have never heard let alone met a songwriter so talented and so potent with their own truth in music. And I was hanging out with him all the time, recording albums, playing shows!

The last four months were just a matter of gathering people in one place. It seems easy but for some reason it can be maddening. I wanted a real ‘community’ vibe on a lot of the songs, and getting Aaron Ross and Cody Feiler to sing on a lot was essential. Molly Allis banged out the drums in one day (one one take mostly! she is amazing), and of course Chuck Ragan and I met up for an afternoon to trade music. There were still lots of little things missing, the cello solo in the middle of ‘True North’, a piano for ‘The First Step’… these things really just kind of slowly slowly fell in line. But the finishing magical touch was realizing that my beautiful and way too modest girlfriend has a beautiful voice. We started by recording her voice on ‘Soundless’ and I realized I needed that voice on a lot more of the album. What was good about that was that it was pretty easy to get her in the same room with me! The “choir” you hear in ‘Strobe Light’ was recorded the day before I finished off the album, layering loads of her lovely voice until a big enough sound was achieved.

So, yes, this is an epically rambling post and I congratulate you for reading this far…

So you’ve got the thought of the album, you’ve got the writing of it, you’ve got the preliminary recording, and then the tricky follow up recording. Now you’ve got to do something with it.

As an independent musician (without a lot of money) you end up doing your own mixes, and therefore listening to the songs over and over and over and over and over again. I’m not very good at mixing, I always want all elements to be louder, and have a hard time with nuance in sound, but I learned a lot with this album. In the end though I’m not sure if I would have ever landed on what I wanted, it changed too much. It would be ideal to hand off songs to an external ear that you trusted and then say “have at it!” but it’s just not possible for me. I’m a control freak about my music, and plus, I felt my tracks were a mess and wouldn’t want to do that to someone!

Basically what happens is you spend four hours straight looping the chorus of one song trying to decide if the cymbal is too midrangy and whether the cello should have a touch more reverb. It’s kind of awful and time consuming but somehow rewarding.

Lastly you just set a date to send it off to be mastered and you stick to it. Because the mixing could literally go on for-ev-er. Thankfully Grass Valley is blessed with the best engineer with the coolest studio and greatest gear and mostly an incredible ear in Dana Gumbiner of Station To Station Recording… The luxury of calling him up is not something I took for granted.

He took my final mixes and really really filled them out. He made the sound of the cello big, and the sound of the backup vocals full. He kind of technicolored the album, in short.

So, and really, this is the part I want to get to… so you are done. You have the final mix, all mastered, and in your hands.

You may have noticed that there is not a lot of time to think about promotion, with everything else going on, let alone booking shows. But that, my friend, is what you must go and do.

I make my CDs through a ridiculously great and anonymous company that cranks them out quickly for me, and most importantly, for my meager budget, does not require that I buy 1000 at a time. At that point I send them to CDBaby, which gets them for sale, and also sends the digital files off to iTunes and Amazon and a number of other digital retailers. CDBaby truly is necessary for the independent musician, especially moving forward into the digital age.

And also, because if you’re reading this deep into the post you must be somewhat interested, also you wait. You put the CD out and you wait. You wait mostly to hear the pebble reach the bottom of the well. A few friends and family casually tell you that they like the album and it makes you glow for days. You check your email and website statistics incessantly to see if it is spreading on its own. You spend a lot of time doing that, it’s true, and I bet it’s true for most artists so I’m not afraid to admit that I’m in the phase where you are rather keen on listening for whispers of feedback.

The next and perhaps last step of an album though, and don’t you forget it, is to go out and play shows. You can’t can’t can’t sit around waiting for feedback. You have to go and bring the music to people directly.

And so the life of an album evolves. I still really really want to put out a vinyl version of REDWOOD SUMMER and JUNEAUREVOIR. I think it would sound great on vinyl. I’m working on a big move, and I really would like these albums to get wider distribution. It would be great, of course, if a label with reach picked either of them up. Playing more shows will be great. Getting JUNEAUREVOIR and its cello epicness into film would be my dream with that.

But mostly you, sitting somewhere, maybe standing, maybe headphones, maybe not, maybe at home, maybe in your car, maybe with yourself or with friends, mostly you hear it. Mostly for maybe only 1 minute, it makes a dent on your day and makes your day more important and beautiful the way that music can do that. Maybe it becomes a companion for a few months because it speaks to where you are at in your life. Maybe you know someone who it seems like would love it. That’s the final, and most important step. It could be now or 20 years from now. That’s one thing I love about making things. You never know…

Wow thanks for going with me down those million tangents. In short, REDWOOD SUMMER is done but not done. Hope this inspires you to bring things to completion (but not completion)… if anything, it might be oddly inspiring that 10 songs could take over a year to get out to the world… and yes, the year is worth the effort.

Be well, enjoy October,

Luke.

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Just took down the full album preview of REDWOOD SUMMER on MySpace… now it is time to get the whole album. It’s available at several outlets, digital and physical versions, and it wants you to get it today…

Things are on the move, I’m planning a massive change in scenery, heading from the Nevada County mountains to the Los Angeles hills. Yeah, big change. It will be a fun adventure. More on that later.

As promised, two more albums are in the works, to complete my initial vision of 4 total, all different in theme and tone. The 3rd and 4th are more electronic, one instrumental dance music like I’ve been playing at parties and gatherings, and one full on singing and beatboxes like I’d been doing live previous to REDWOOD SUMMER.

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To celebrate the final mix and master of Redwood Summer, I’m sending you this album version of track one: Strobe Light.

You heard it before, perhaps, but that was before the choir got added!

Enjoy!

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You hear: rock cello, acoustic guitar, 2 drum sets, many backup vocals, a choir.

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If you don’t care about recording in the slightest, this post is not for you. However, if you have fretted over getting the right tone on stringed instruments to the point of nervous breakdown, here is my point of view if it helps…

I don’t believe I really got to the gist of what I was trying to get at the other day about mixing cello… I got into how I record. Which is cool, but diverted.

Point is: when mixing cello, one thing I always need to hear more and more of are the big bass tones, the ones I hear when playing, from my angle to the instrument. What happens in mixing the cello, at least for me, is you turn up everything in that 150-300 range so that you get that “big” sound.

If you are an engineer you are laughing at me, but honestly that took a long time to figure out. Basically, for this new album Juneaurevoir, I have realized that bringing down the whooompy range of 150-300 allows it to come out clean and clear on car stereos, cheap headphones etc… what everyone who hears your music will listen to it on.

I wouldn’t cut it down to low though to tell the truth, and I tend to keep that un-hearable range in 60hz or so up at zero, just in case it creates a nice resonance. May be wrong, but I do it.

Also, with the highs, I have always had such cheap mics that by default I roll off the top end of the spectrum. I don’t turn it up now, per se, but I am stoked to hear that sound of the resin flaking off the bow as it moves across. I like the airy bow sound, as mentioned before!

Anyways, by bringing down those whompy mid-tones a fair amount I’m able to “successfully” (in the ear of the beholder) layer 6, 8, 16 tracks of cello.

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Spent the weekend sorting out dramas in my world and also putting the final touches on the new Cello album JUNEAUREVOIR.

Mixing cello can be pretty rough. It’s so full of bass, obviously, but the more you pull back on that bass, the more tinny the high ends seem.

Also, it’s one of those instruments you just want to cover with the frosting of reverb. But I’ve found that it is very very easy to go overboard on cello reverb. It has its own resonance which gets lost the more stacks of reverb you throw down.

As far as dramas of my life go? Well, let’s just say that plans, even when huge and pivotal, the big boulders of plans, can slip out of place and wreak havoc. More to come on that later.

If your are interested in how I record the cello (ie you are a recording nerd like me), read on!

I’m sure some people have figured this out, and that nicer microphones can make it sound great. I have figured my own “method” out on this last album. It is simple, not profound, and is as follows:

I take my nicer mic, an Audio Technica that is powered, a fairly small condenser mic, it looks sort of like this. It’s not that one. Anyways, it has a full bodied sound and also picks up the “icy” part of the cello, those highs where the bow moves across the string. I put that in front, facing the bridge, about six inches from it, straight on, or as much as possible.

I don’t believe in mic’ing the f-hole. Too many fluctuations in tone and none of that bow sound action. I happen to like the bow sounds, even on “perfect” classical recordings. Or, I should say, especially on “perfect” classical recordings. My favorite recording of the Bach Suites is Pablo Casals’ very early recordings of them. One take, wax cylinder, lots of imperfections, no retakes, lots of real natural beauty. Perfect and authentic sounding to me. You can really hear the bow moving across the string. I like it.

And then, and this is odd, but it works, I decided that it is ok to record with a pickup if the pickup picks up some tones that a mic just can’t. So I used my Shadow Nanoflex Cello Pickup and recorded the two, mic and pickup, together. The blend of the tones allows for a more full tone. I tend to roll off the low end on the Audio Technica, and also to roll off the high end of the pickup. Low end of the mic is full of hum, high end of the pickup is full of hiss. But they compliment each other nicely.

So what you end up with is like, if you had your ear right up against the cello PLUS you have a prime spot seated in front of the cello. I like the blend of the two.

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Chuck Ragan's new album

I’m super excited to report that I’m gonna get to play a show with someone I’ve admired musically for a long time!

Chuck Ragan is a member of the hugely influential band Hot Water Music. He has released two solo albums recently, which are excellent. A couple months ago we recorded; I played cello on a few tracks on his upcoming album, he sang on a track on my upcoming album.

The show is this Friday, July 10, 2009 at 9pm at the Blue Lamp in Sacramento, CA. Tickets are $12 at the door.

Click here for more details!

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So here is one of the tracks I was workin’ on this weekend.

This one doesn’t pull any punches lyrically, and I find I’m enjoying adding strange little sounds to the percussion.

Sorry it’s just a sample, it’s just that some weird sites out there are dumping my tunes all over the interwebs, which is not a bad thing. On principle though, I’m not ready for the world to hear the finished versions of songs off the upcoming Redwood Summer. But here, indeed, and without further ado, without many more words, without mincing, and as promised, is a sample of what I’ve been up to…

Enjoy, and thanks for stopping by!

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Spring is opening up around here and this strange hanging winter will be passed. That’s good! It’s been productive though, I will admit.

I’ve been mixing the tracks on “Redwood Summer” that have drums. Make the kick drum big, make the cellos up front. Make the guitars ring out. Make the voice sound alright.

I like the initial results I’ve been getting from some very rudimentary but helpful tips (rolling off the low end of instruments that don’t carry low end, for example). It’s never been my forte, mixing. Unfortunately it is possibly the most important part of the process. Good albums just FEEL right. That’s mixing. And mastering. I hope I can afford to master these!

The good news is is that the instrument set I’m using for all these is similar. So, in most cases, once I find a cello “sound” that feels right, I can apply it to all these albums.

Also I’m shying away from effects. Maybe here and there, I’ve always loved some weird aspect in the sound, but, I’m finally beginning to appreciate the sound of the room it was recorded in, as opposed to “gothic cathedral” reverb setting.

I’ll post a remix here soon, so that you can hear what is happening…

Thanks for stopping by!

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Note to iTunes podcast subscribers… try magic spell Apple + R to show you where the file is… move it to your desktop, and then drag it into iTunes… Thanks!

I happened to make it out of one of the cello songs I’m working on today (need some good wake up music)… I don’t know how other phones work, but it works on my iphone…

For those of you not subscribed to the podcast (click here for that), click the text version “download” below, the icon doesn’t work.

Enjoy!

Also, I’m just testing this out, may make it a feature. Buy this ringtone and support what you get out of this site and podcast. I can only tell you that this ringtone works for iPhones, not for other phones. Feel free to skip down to the free version. I’m planning on putting tracks up for free for a week, and then charging for them (bandwidth you know)… what do you think?

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Signals

The albums are coming along. I had the pleasure of recording some drums with Molly from Huff This!. She adds such a rock sound to the tracks. It’s perfect for the feel of the album.

So here is a more rounded out version of the song I posted a few weeks ago. This is the sample of the more rock, acoustic guitars and cello based album I’m calling ‘Redwood Summer’. Enjoy!

Remember the earlier version of this song?

Here is my sample from the electro-cello album tentatively called ‘Half Moon’. It’s the stuff I’ve been playing live lately.

Here is a sample of my all cello instrumental album, as yet un-named.

Here is where the electronic-instrumental album will be coming from.

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Fever Saved Me... Let It Save You
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The Heirs Of Mystery, our band with Aaron Ross, will be heading down the mountain to play in Davis tonight. 

This coming Sunday we are trekking up to Portland to play at Alela Diane’s CD Release, at Holocene.

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Luke Janela - Live @ Sac State 

I’m probably not going to code a photo gallery in here anytime soon, especially when I have Flickr!

I’ve finally put together a small and ever growing gallery of music related pics here.

Post your photos from my shows here.

Thanks!

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So I have been hell of out of the loop, removed from reality in so many ways, both living out in the woods and absolutely inundated with work. I’ve been thinking of the big posting I would put here, announcing the fantastic things going on, but just haven’t had the seconds.

The house I was staying in was outside Nevada City in Northern California, totally beautiful views of stars and wooded hillsides… it was a perfect place to get to work on the album that I’ve been wanting to do for a long long time. I call it my “old Luke” album. It’s basically like, no electronics, no avant attempts. Just simple songs, like the ones I used to rock over the hills and dales of Ukiah and Santa Cruz. And the open mics of Portland.

No concept per se, but I intend to have at most on each track the same instrumentation: cello, acoustic guitar, and vocals. I have an inkling to put drums on a couple of tracks, like the one I’m posting here, but if I do, they will be straightforward rock drums, etc.

It for me is a return to my roots: a certain Northern California sound. Not hippie, not punk, not folk, not really in between. Just who we were and are in that wooded corner of the world.

The album is tentatively titled “Redwood Summer” and is set for release April 14, 2009.

This track is called ‘Fever Saved Me’

Thanks for stopping by!

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Alela’s beautiful new album ‘To Be Still’ is due to be released February 17, 2009. I’m planning on playing with Aaron Ross at her cd release party in Portland, Feb 15th…

She’s been getting a lot of well deserved attention lately. Here’s a pitchfork post of her new video… I play a little cello on this track…

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Dec 14, 2008 
I’ve been working like mad lately and in my late night hours I’ve been burning through my music list. One of the tracks from my old band “The Key” came up and I decided I’m really proud of this whole album, especially in retrospect. Especially in retrospect because I wrote this song about the approach of the US warplanes at the beginning of the Iraq war from the point of view of an innocent kid. Maybe my age, maybe in Baghdad… I still think it fits. The sounds at the end are from a giant (80,000 plus people) anti-war rally on the eve of the war. Before that scumbag W. pulled the trigger. Listen and enjoy…

In other news, I’m super busy in life and otherwise.

This Thursday I’m playing a show in Sacramento with Aaron Ross & The Heirs Of Mystery at a new club. Go to his myspace page for more details…

After that I’m driving down to Los Angeles to do some cello recording with Huff This! They’re putting together their album and I’m super glad to be able to contribute perhaps.

In the meantime, good progress is made on the solo cello album, the new cello/beats/vocals album. Those two will probably be released at the same time, in early spring.

Yes. That is what is. Hope you’re doing well…

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Nightfall, Waterfall
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So this song is totally flooding your inbox now if you are subscribed to the podcast. I had a delay in my website being working, so, thanks to Tyler Booth at Stephouse.net, things are back in action!

Now that I’m playing these songs out live a lot, the recording of the new album is coming along… more to come, but for now, Candle:

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Cody Feiler practices a guitar part in this picture during an off moment of practice. Me, Aaron Ross, and Cody are playing together on Friday night at The Center For The Arts in Grass Valley. The show is pretty exciting because this set is really complex and unique music. The rhythms are in strange timings and the harmonies are pretty crazy. I play cello, Cody plays electric guitar, Aaron sings and plays acoustic guitar. We pitch in backup vocals… It’s really fun to be a part of such a great project.

As a band we’re the “Heirs Of Mystery”. (We might go with the “Ayers Of Mystery” for the next month however…)

I’m also playing that night, is going to be a big, rad show.

Picture uploaded by www.cellspin.net

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September is here, and the air has cooled almost imperceptibly. I’m still looking for a long summer. Yes I have been very busy lately, hence the lack of a voice here in website land.

This weekend I had so much fun it’s hard to put into words recording Aaron Ross‘ new album with him and Cody Feiler in the old church at St. Joseph’s in Grass Valley. Last night was the last of three nights recording there, and we were all banging on drums at midnight. It was some of the finishing touches on the most productive recording weekend I’ve ever been a part of. His album is so amazing, I’m listening to the roughs of it right now and it is so amazingly complex, varied, smart and moving I can’t wait for it to get out in the world.

Melora Creagan
I’m already also excited about the Mondo Cello Fest, which is coming around sooner than I’ll know I’m sure. The bottom line is that this touring show is so packed full of incredible cellists and is like, going to be the best show ever when it comes through your town… I’m going to post all the info here for your reading pleasure, and in the meantime be sure to go to the

Click here to visit the MySpace Page for the Mondo Cello Fest for info on tickets and the performers

October 15th—Broadway Performance Hall Seattle, WA

October 16th—Aladdin Theater Portland, OR

October 17th—Slim’s San Francisco, CA

October 18th—The Unknown Theater Los Angeles, CA

(more…)

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Live at Amnesia - 07)31(08

Pre-PS… if you have any pictures that you’d like to share via flickr, go to http://www.flickr.com/groups/lukejanelalive and join in…

It was, indeed, the best show ever, and, though I can’t really sum up why, here are some of the elements:

1. My family was there. My cousin, two of my brothers, my sister in law, and my girlfriend were there, and it made me happy that they made it. I felt more at ease and comfortable pre-show (I am usually freaking out feeling ill with nerves) then I have in a long long time. I’m so glad that after all these years they’re not sick of my music (or me) yet!

2. My friends were there. A lot of my brothers’ friends showed up and it really meant a lot to me to see them there. They’ve been coming to my shows in SF for several years now, and I really can’t begin to say how much it rules that were there. I really respect them in general, and so it meant a lot to me.

On top of that, amazingly, some friends whom I had not seen in literally 7 years showed up. (One of them brilliantly sang for the headlining band SEAQUENCER). When I saw them in the audience (I didn’t know they were coming) I had to do a double take to believe that it was actually them. It was so good to reconnect. It kind of blew me away. It made me appreciate what real friendship is (you know… it stands the test of time, no words necessary to catch up, et cetera).

3. The venue/sound was perfect. Amnesia is a really cool bar, the ambience is dark and bohemian, the drinks are strong, the velvet plush, and the sound guy (thanks mike!) did a fantastic job with my absurdly over the top setup (two drum machines via midi, two cello pickups, vocals, and effects!). I felt really at home there, and the room glowed a cool red.

4. The crowd was really cool, and totally into it. Looking out over the crowd, the room was packed, some people were dancing (which I love), and everyone was just… into it. It was great… really great!

5. Things went right. I was playing all new material, and any number of things could have gone wrong… forgetting parts, pressing the wrong button, falling out of tune… it certainly wasn’t perfectly in tune (it is still a cello after all) but really, it was fun to play new stuff.

6. The SF Weekly review, and a blurb in the SF Ist… Honestly, I can’t say enough about the insightful, kind, and, I felt, poignant review in the SF Weekly. It did a lot to bring people out, and it did a lot to kind of affirm the sound I’m going for now…

7. On and on. I just really can’t sum up how much I enjoyed this show. Here is to many more. As a friend toasted at the end of the night:

“May the best of your past be the worst of your future.”

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What you hear/see in this practice session is two beatboxes, one cello, effects on the cello, and the vocals. This song was writ about two months ago… part of the new batch. This is all live, just the mic on the camcorder (not the most perfect performance but you know… honest 😉

I’ve been trying to keep a fresh supply of new material up here on the site but wow it has been a busy time!

Also I’m in a period of transition, where I’m really figuring out my new sound right now: By putting this restriction that everything that goes onto the new album must be able to be done live, it has raised the bar. I now have multiple beatboxes as part of the cello/beat sound on top of that, so it’s tricky.

And it is fun to work this stuff out, I’m really excited!

Thanks for watching/listening!

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rad cello dudesers

I am extremely honored to get to share the stage this October with this unbelievable lineup of the best cello based indie music in the United States! Having this incredible group of musicians all taking the stage the same night is sure to be phenomenal.

Here are the dates and locations:

October 15th–Broadway Performance Hall Seattle, WA
October 16th–The Aladdin Theater Portland, OR
October 17th–Slim’s San Francisco, CA
October 18th–The Unknown Theater Los Angeles, CA

The Lineup:

Zoe Keating

Portland Cello Project

Bonfire Madigan

Loop!Station

Judgement Day

Merch

Luke Janela

If you are in these cities and you like the cello, you HAVE to go to these shows. You will love it because it will rule.

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So I’ve begun work on one of my next albums, which is to be all cello, all the time. No vocals, no beats. And I shall try to resist the temptation to add piano and guitar or… whatever. Point is, a sparse album.

I usually have a motive in mind with my albums to some degree, and with this one I think that the appropriate listening experience would be something like: quietly in the summer evening. Warmly by the woodstove in the winter.

Oh yeah, I was going to post a song. So here is one approaching completion, Would Dent Sky. I cannot call this finished, but it is an encouraging beginning.

I don’t think I will be posting all the songs here as I go in this case, but keep your eye on the site, or subscribe to the podcast, I will certainly not be able to resist sharing them as they come along.

Be sure to stick around for a minute or two, as the development begins to get more layered then… Thanks for listening!

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If I Let It Go, It Would Dent The Sky
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Washington DC Boys Choir

“Be On Your Way” off Midnight Door was one of the songs that I worked on over and over again in the mixdown. I recorded it while on the road, and there was a lot that I wanted to “fix”, but there was a lot that I wanted to leave exactly as I recorded it that very first magical time.

The song was recorded in Washington DC, while we were staying in an apartment there. It was a moody place and time, and a good one, there were thunderstorms every afternoon.

Also, my guitar had just been stolen out of a campsite in Virginia Beach, which was tragic. I had that guitar for 10 years and really really loved it. So I had made the odd decision to buy a new guitar (using up my reserves for sure) because I couldn’t handle the loss, and because I couldn’t handle traveling without one.

So this song was the very first song I recorded with that guitar. In this version you hear only cello however, it was a quick mix I did, trying to ascertain whether the cello sans beats was “good” enough for the record. I like this mix, but you can hear the beats through the headphones, so it never did make it to the record.

Enjoy, and thanks for listening!

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Listen to the album version here.

PS – The picture there is the boys choir in Washington DC that I recorded and is featured in the ‘bridge’ section of the song “Fireflies” off Midnight Door.

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New song, writ in March, to be listened to. Cello, vocals… simple.

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Stars are shining, brighter than before
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I found out, naively, that I can record with, hold the phones, TWO microphones at once. I didn’t have to buy a mixer or anything. Well, I already had what I needed.

And so, the blueprint for the cello & voice only album is laid out: two mics, live recordings.

This song was recorded as a test of my setup, the room, the mics, positions, et cetera, and I am quite happy with how it turned out. The mic on my cello is big and right, and the vocals (hint of sick still in my voice, I hate recording when I’m sick but I can’t stop myself) are the ever faithful SM57 at work.

So, preface this song with: a test. Lyrics… not quite worked out, but I will keep some of them and rework the whole thing. I wanted to give you a little something, as I have been far from the external world lately in the land of illness. But I’m back again!

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Two Of Them
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It has been a long busy and good week for me. And yet, I have not shared much music. I like the beginnings of this song, and especially I like the way that just cello and voice is going to work on the just cello and voice album I’ll be releasing this year.

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Reeds
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Last second I know, but tomorrow night I shall be playing a little cello ambient music for Kate’s art opening in Sacramento.

Practicing tonight, working it out. Here is a short sampling of what might happen… Here I am playing the cello (with my hands) and the beatbox (with my feet).

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Last Things First
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This is a track from way back. This is one of my first shows where I used the cello for half my set. I had my beatbox, and was playing at the Medicine Hat, this beautiful underground type spot on NE Alberta St., in Portland. It was a quiet night, like a Wednesday or so, but I remember that several of my friends were there. We probably ate at the Vita Cafe. I know that I had left my cello pickup back at my apartment on SE Hawthorne, and was frantic to make it all happen for this show.

So it was the beginnings of making the cello and beats thing work. This recording was done nicely by the sound engineer. Its an old song too, one off of “Still Dream” I believe.

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Last night’s show at Hot Rod Ink in Newcastle, CA, was amazing.

So many good people turned out to check out the newly hung art, and Alice Ann welcomed all to her tattoo shop warmly. The atmosphere was excited, and everyone was into the music as well.

Here is an excerpt from my live performance that night, playing cello and beats.

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Interesting show tonight, another art opening, this one though, not in a salon but a tattoo parlor.

It actually sounds really awesome to me, and I’m looking forward to it a lot. Cody Coyote will be playing, and I’ll be doing my cello beat mashup madness.

It starts at 6pm in Newcastle, and I’ll do some recording for those who can’t be there…

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I’ve been working with a few things lately, trying to make the new.

First of all I recorded an album for my dad, akin to something I did for my mom a few years back, where really, its just me sitting down with the cello and playing what happens to come out.

Second of all I took the tracks and have been putting them to video. For this first one, I asked Kate to do some drawing in the same manner, and used that as the footage.

I hope you like. It SHOULD be iPod compliant if you are into that kind of thing.

Here is the permalink, and below might be (if I can figure out the technology) a video player.

Song For My Father – Part 1

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Part 1 - Song For My Father
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