One of the best ways to learn or even ‘get’ something is to do it over and over. Of course there has to be a bit of a belief that you’re going to eventually understand or accomplish that which you’re learning. In the case of music there’s really only 12 notes to learn in our pop culture version of music. 12 isn’t a very big number. It’s also the base of American measurement. Too bad the entire world isn’t on base 10, things would be that much easier, for music too. Well, I’m not sure how music would work if you removed two notes, but I’m sure it would find a way.
The insane thing to think about is the vast combinations of music that has been created using those 12 notes. Beyond the notes comes the rhythm. Coupling notes with rhythm ends up defining style. Add emotion to those two concepts and you extend the range of how music works infinitely. It can take years to master an instrument. You repeat things over and over to burn it into memory so that it will come out later. I know that I would spend hours and hours working very specific things. Be it a scale or a particular rhythmic figure. I would always work it to a metronome. I think my insane practicing of individual pieces of the beat made it easier for me to come up with more interesting rhythmic groupings for writing songs.
Once you’ve acquired some skill for your instrument, you branch into writing songs. Once you’ve written a few songs you want to record them. You can go to a studio and pay to have it professionally recorded and walk out with a great sounding song. Or you can then take on the task of learning to record yourself. Like learning an instrument, learning to record is an on going process. Last night I attended a seminar for my recording program of choice, Logic Pro. It was held at RSPE and featured a producer by the name of Blumpy.
It’s fun to attend such things and watching how someone else uses the program you know and love. There’s always something to learn, but it takes that repetition to get it to burn in. So while I’ll see a bunch of stuff that I like about how someone works, maybe only one or two items will stay with me. Well, I know there were a couple of things that I was already doing that reinforced. So that’s a good thing. I’m still learning to master the recording process but I’m getting a hell of a lot better.
Enough about me eh? Well, maybe not. I met Angela earlier this year when I was asked to perform at Room 5 in Los Angeles. It was one of those nights where the person in charge of booking ends up booking about 8 acts to perform. Nothing like being a number and pushed around in the shuffle. Especially when you’ve got some people coming to see you. The good thing is you get to meet several other performers in the process. I think I made a good impression on Angela, she bought my CD.
She made an impression on me as well. She’s got some great charisma on stage. Plus you can’t help but notice a tall blonde from Canada who is belting out some good songs. I picked up her CD from her. It’s extremely well recorded, as it should be because there are some fantastic musicians that she’s assembled. One being Greg Bissonette, a fantastic drummer. You can hear the quality oozing from your speakers right now. It would be a utopic world if all non-signed artists had albums of this caliber from a recorded standpoint.
I can’t understand how it is that she remains non-signed. The songs are strong. She can play live. She’s easy on the eyes. It’s a complete package. Screw it, you have the power. Buy the CD and put a smile on her face. Let’s put at least 10 smiles on her face today.
Did you get it yet?