Last night I had the pleasure of practicing with the great Molly Allis and Jenica Anderson of Bear Club. We’ve been playing electric lately, but in preparation for a more intimate show we were armed with marimba, cello and acoustic guitar. And of course their voices. Sorry, the cello is a bit loud on this recording of us practicing a song since the recorder was close to me.
Didn’t have time to record/create something new for the e’ry day project. But I did rehearse with Bear Club for our show on Friday at El Cid. Cello eye view!
I’ve always been the “passionate” cellist. Early on I probably leaned into the strings a bit heavily to overcome my lack of practice. I might have even used the “I am passionate” card as a justification for not practicing as much as I should have (I never practiced from age 13 until college, I would show up at the lesson and class and sight. I’m not proud).
I still am the passionate musician. My music requires it, and I’m more than happy to be that person. Um, you know, I’m still not the world’s most fantastic cellist in general, especially not technically, but I can hold my own. I have technique now, I get it, I work it. I practice!
But I BELIEVE in feeling and passion in music and I will until the day that I die. I can’t stand dry flat deliveries (hello most indie rock of the last several years).
And yet! And yet… I have noticed this thing that is important, and I have noticed it especially when I know I will have to get on stage and perform, and it is this: a little less feeling, a little less bombasticity (now a word), a deeper breath or two, and yes, a few more thoughts given to the angle of the bow and the curvature of the fingers really really helps. It makes the passion come through in a more sophisticated way.
via CELLO. LESSONS! – Once more, this time with less feeling..
Played a show in Echo Park yesterday and the little room at the little cafe was nice and close and intimate and good and the daylight shone through the window which is not all that common for a music gig. Improvised set means you don’t have any basis for judging the performance. Actually, you never do.
I have two gigs coming up this weekend. Didn’t mean for that to happen, that’s usually a no-no, even in a big city, because you you know, use up all your pulling people in power. To be honest I don’t have a ton of that at the moment so every show played out is a chance to reach people. I’m… well… I hate to admit this but I’m desperate to play more. And so if someone says “will you play?” I say “Yes!”, no exceptions (almost).
So I’ll be revisiting Tomorrow Was, which is good. Playing through those songs, which are still full of a meaning I don’t even know that I understand yet. I’m happy to stick around with them a bit, though I’m always anxious to write and create more. Perhaps now that I’ve split my persona in two (Midnight Door and Luke Janela) I can write under one and continue on with the other.
Spring is really here. LA is so ridiculously lovely weather-wise, to the point that it creeps me out at times. I loved the big and rare storm that roared across the basin and blew down my wind chimes. It is essential that break, that chaos.
Anyways, the point is that I will be practicing this week. And that will be good.
Today I hope I can inspire myself to put on a few sweaters and brave my little studio. I actually really need to, I’ve got a show tomorrow and two the following weekend. And in the midst of that I’ve got some other “real world” responsibilities that are pretty pressing, needing my every bit of extra attention.
I will be working on this ambient set that I’ve been performing for a long while now. Beats + Cello + Effects.
The Process?
I write the beats first thing. I’ve always been a fan of big beats and while I can’t say I am any kind of expert, I enjoy the act of creating beats. I don’t use canned beats (Canned beats are free-to-use beats that somebody already wrote and recorded a sample of, for anyone to use).
Most of the “songs”are quite free-form, and I enjoy that freedom. It’s like electronica/jazz, that openness. But a lot of times I will, no wait, I always decide on a key initially, whether it be b minor or C Major or what-have-you. Sometimes if I can think that far in advance I’ll go modal, though really if anything I play in Dorian and tend, sadly, to not explore the other modes too much. Some of these “songs” over the years have in fact developed their own melodies or themes, and so, in that sense they are not completely improvised. But after those things are out of the way (beats + key + theme) I just see what happens.
The most difficult thing about that in a live context is self editing. It doesn’t take much at all for one of these songs to turn into 30 minute self-aggrandizing tombs. It’s extremely important to try and think quickly and move forward quickly, in my opinion. I’ve seen far too many musicians wanking over how awesome they are for too long and I don’t want to be that guy. A helpful thing for me to keep in mind is that less IS indeed more. In fact that is sort of a mantra I repeat over and over as I perform (less is more… less is more…). I think Miles Davis is the master of that and everything else, and I can’t count how many times his face has popped into my head while playing as a way to remind me to let things breathe. It’s a startling vision that snaps me back sometimes.
That’s the process. As technology has changed the process has changed, the performance has changed. My first attempts at doing things this way was in Portland playing some random loft parties. I had my trusty Korg Electribe ER-1 and a delay pedal. I played loud and feedback was rampant. It was great!
Music device fiends: My favorite favorite thing about the Electribe is its “audio in” feature, which is hard to describe in words, but allows you to create a rhythmic pattern for your external input to actually be outputted… So that the notes I play on my cello beep through with the beats in a set pattern. It is a nice sci-fi sound that makes it sound like more than one instrument is playing. I am bummed that so far the electribe is the only device I’ve found that does this. Even software like Ableton doesn’t have this feature. You can hear that effect in “Everybody Is Dreaming“, it’s the synth sounding rhythmic noise going on throughout, especially audible for the verses.
The Electribe is still with me, even though I don’t really need it. I’ve found a way to integrate it via midi into my current setup. My setup is not all that different now, I just use my laptop with Ableton Live + Electribe + Effects Pedal + Keyboard Synth + Launchpad.
Using a laptop live does have its drawbacks… 1. software glitches and computer malfunctions (they happen, I can attest) 2. It’s your laptop, which, in my case, is the most valuable thing I own second to my cello, so that’s not ideal to have on a stage at a club, but in the end it takes a solo act to levels probably impossible otherwise.
So yeah, time to stop writing and go practice! Maybe I’ll record some snippets and post. Maybe!
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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!
I know I haven’t posted in a little bit… I have tons of awesome excuses! But really I’ve been practicing. I’ve been playing some music with Aaron Ross and Cody Coyote (we might do a bit for the show on Saturday, we might now!). But I’m thinking: hey! I will record one of my last practice sessions here and post it to the site here in the next couple of days. Stay tuned!
