If necessary I could actually confine myself to taking photos just around my little studio. There’s a porch, there’s a beautiful garden behind – and there’s the night.
You get some (although vague) insight from two different angles, merged into one picture.
guitar & gear: ’67 stratocaster, Vox ToneLab SE, tube reverb
It’s a bit unusual for this blog to have two posts published the same day. But this time around there are just too many things to tell.
First: Rufus is audible now. One more invitation goes out to you to join in and dance around the trunk with me.
Second: Elspeth has posted a new video yesterday. The second proof of a fruitful collaboration. It’s (about) magic. Oh, and it will take some time to load, maybe. At least it has been so with my computer.
Third: Another collaboration is on the way, including Susanne from creative.mother.thinking.
Forth: In this case, please don’t just look at the last post, as today there is also Volcanology!
[audio:eruption.mp3]
Since I didn’t want to even remotely rival Eddie Van Halen’s “Eruption” (a famous rock guitar instrumental – check it out!), I approached Charlie Parker by calling this similar to “Anthropology” and “Ornithology”.
Ouch – wrong again. Ahem. I guess this is simply “Volcanology”, and doesn’t rival anything… It’s a fade-in-tune, so please take a few moments for it to reach its full volume.
64$ question: what does the picture below actually show? (hint: it’s just a detail from a photo I posted here before).
guitar & gear: Epiphone Les Paul with Haeussel Pickups, Vox AC 50, DOD wah pedal, BSM treble booster
[audio:basslydian.mp3]
Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce to you: Rufus. He is my favorite tree. I know him since I was a child, he knows me, and I know there’s magic to him. Never have I met such an elephant- (or moose-) like vegetable creature in any other place than his, and his place is rather close to my home. So we meet regularly, I hug him, and we exchange opinions.
Near the end of the soundtrack you are being invited to join me and all the other creatures who adore Rufus and dance around the trunk together.
guitar & gear: Gibson EB-3 bass guitar, SWR SM 400 amplifier, tube reverb
[audio:funk.mp3]
guitar & gear: ’67 stratocaster, Vox ToneLab SE, tube reverb
This video is the first result of a collaboration between Elspeth Duncan, multimedia artist, and me. We are both posting it simultaneously on our respective blogs. I’d like to thank her for inviting me to take part in this. Her approach to art as well as to everyday life is an inspiration to every human with an open mind. Just go to the link above to see what I mean.
Isn’t it wonderful how the internet enables people to work together who are thousands of miles apart, located on different continents, and raised in different cultures?
I was amazed at how good the video matched the music (or vice versa), and I’d find it interesting to know about your reaction to it. What do you see? Which associations are coming up? And how would you name it?
Thanks for participating.
[audio:rainyday.mp3]
Sorry if your weather doesn’t match this. Where I live, it does. And it’s beautiful if you take a close look.
guitar & gear: ’67 stratocaster, Vox ToneLab SE, Tube Trem
[audio:jasminobird.mp3]
Like these flowers from my studio, everything you need, everything you seek for is only two footsteps away.
guitar & gear: mandoline again, Vox ToneLab, Tube Reverb
[audio:fanciful.mp3]
During my long lasting search for genuine 60’s sounds I experienced several cases of synchronicity: first a friend of mine purchased an original 1967 Fender Stratocaster guitar, which is an absolute rarity, and I was so lucky to receive the request to restore it. Many of the sound tracks on this blog were played on this very special guitar. Mind you, 1967 was the year of psychedelic music!
Few weeks later an acquaintance told me he owned a real old amplifier plus a speaker cabinet, but he was forced to store it in the attic for lack of space in his house. I could have it assembled in my studio, if I liked to. Of course I liked to!
It turned out to be a Vox AC 50, equipment also used by The Beatles, and its manufacturing date must be around 1965. It was in a rather bad condition, the speaker cones rotten, and all the knobs on the amplifier crackling for slack joints. Much more repair work was required than I could accomplish.
But just around the time when I was pondering what to do, I met an old friend from school, whose job was exactly repairing amplifiers! Could anybody be as fortunate as me?
Sparing you the details, after multiple efforts I ended up having just the authentic equipment for my future creative plans without paying that much for it. The power of the universe had colluded to provide what I needed – that’s what it felt like. So for me this is not about technical facts and such – it’s about synchronicity. And smell.
Smell? Well, the so-called vintage equipment has a smell of its own, known as a fact among vintage freaks. And it’s true. Like incense, there is an inspiring smell of old wood and spices in my studio, reminding me of the vibration of a distant past. The amplifier spreads its perfume all over my room whenever it’s switched on.
Sound? Oh, I forgot: the stack sounds fantastic, not with any guitar and depending on the situation, but I’d definitely miss something without it.
guitar & gear: what you see is what you hear
[audio:mandobird.mp3]
This little improvisation on an instrument I actually am no master of made me feel “longing for the sea”. Or, as one might put it, “long time no sea” – which is true for me, living in southern Germany far from all oceans. On my search for an illustration I stumbled over an old photograph, taken in Brazil many years ago on a two month’s trip with my wife.
There’s something written on the picture in Portuguese: subir. When I thought of it’s meaning, I suddenly felt it all become much more intense and heading for what I hoped to convey. “Subir” is “ascend”. Look, listen, and feel sense and direction in it.
guitar & gear: no guitar, since it’s kind of a mandolin that looks like an electric guitar. Naturally my son’s favorite tool for his playing the guitar hero – which of course he copied from me.
