This is the first solo guitar feature of the album; a Les Paul, a Cry Baby Classic Wah, and the Vox AC 50 – that’s what the solo sound is made of. My Tobias four string bass provides the basis of a Hendrixian groove. The measure is 8/4 with an accent on the count of “3″.

The tune is completed by organ and driving drums. Its mood reminded me of my own angriness at people who don’t care – hence the title. Sometimes the Wah wah guitar seems to talk – sometimes one might discern furious words and phrases…

This little tune of just a few seconds goes to show:

a) Children can also play music (my son is on electronic organ and analog delay) with great wit and understanding

b) Having passed the dark tune “Verfallenes Licht”, we find ourselves in a spacecraft in the middle of nowhere. None of the instruments aboard is working any more, and we have to admit there is nothing we can do now except wait for help. And curse the interference that keeps us from knowing where we are…

red faces devoured by the night

shattered laughs in the vine

and glowing melancholy

spirit torture! a stone falls silent

blue voice of an angel in the sleeper’s ear

declining light

declining light

This an abridged translation of a poem without title from Georg Trakl, an Austrian poet of the Expressionism Era. At a certain point in working with the music of this tune, the need for some spoken lyrics appeared, and by intuition I took out this book of poems. In my younger days I would read Georg Trakl every year in the season of fall, but this time it was neither fall nor did I feel the need for some more melancholic or dark and dreary feelings. This time the overall surreal atmosphere of the music required such a poem…

The instrumentation is different in this tune, with the first obvious appearance of  violin along with mandolin, xylophone and dark vocals without words. Then suddenly you know something will happen, and there is this spoken poem above, embedded in shivering sounds to make your blood run cold. Strangely enough, the meter is 4/4 this time!

Somehow this sounds like a fiddle tune minus a fiddle. It’s my Les Paul Special. Added jaw harp, triangle and some more guitars contribute to a funny feeling of exuberance, growing towards the end. A sudden break lets you fall into a repetition loop, and then fade out.

Although less than perfect, I like this tune in particular for its ending, where we are getting lost.

Do we still reside on top of a mountain? Have we found the way down in daylight?

“Who rides there so late through the night dark and drear?”

That’s from Goethe’s famous poem, which came to my mind when listening to this. Now that we’ve reached the mountain top, it has become dark and windy, and there’s no way to climb down now. So what shall we do?

This is one of the songs in 6/4 measure. I always do riffs in 6/4 unintentionally – it seems to be my natural measure… The wind sound is created by a pink noise generator through a wah wah pedal. I recorded the basic track with my ’80s Tobias four string bass. Solo guitar is a Les Paul Special, and my wife added three layers of recorder at the end. (Originally this was called “Afro Bass” when there was only a rhythm track with lots of percussion.)

Sleep well, and don’t let the strange sounds of the night disturb you…

Dear listener,

at some point last year I decided I had to make an album. Too many musical ideas, sheets with sketches and outlines for songs had gathered.

That’s when I disappeared from here. Albums need my undivided attention – well, besides family, lessons and housework.

This is the third album I’ve done, and the last one. It took me more than three years to make this music in my head audible for others: as sound is my main focus now, preparations included extensive research and much experimenting with amps and effects. Some 26 songs developed from there. Some had to be omitted along the way.

23 songs remained to form an album of about 69 minutes. I myself played most of the instruments, including guitars, bass, drums, percussion, organ and violin. This has been a challenge! So my last album is also the longest one, considering playing time. It’s name is “Winterlese”, a German word containing my surname Winter and something like “vintage” or “crop”.

I hope I succeeded in conveying my idea of a Contemporary Psychedelic Sound, which was realized with strictly analog equipment. Except for recording everything on my computer, no digital means were used. Any sound you hear is a real sound, and there are many guitar parts that do not sound like a guitar…

The order of songs came very naturally this time. I wonder why I didn’t have to think about it too much, which I had expected to be one major problem. Listen to the introduction now, which sets the mood for the album, but lasts just a few seconds. Until next time, see you!

Fast Track (original version)

[audio:InterludeForVeronica.mp3]

An Interlude for Veronica

Stephen from England for sure had a hard time completing this tune. Unfortunately the first version that I had recorded on my own, containing my first ever drum playing on a recording, had already been quite complete, to avoid the term busy…

And unfortunately, we both had lots of other things to do and our collaboration took a lot of time meaning that most of the time we didn’t collaborate.

Fortunately, though, this post is to present the happy ending – fortunately I may present the outcome of a new collaboration. As I said, Stephen was confronted with a hard task, and I doubted for weeks, feeling it might have been a mistake to begin with such a difficult piece of music. Difficult in that it was surely hard to find anything still fitting in.

But then he surprisingly came up with a fine solution: he added kind of a permanent guitar melody dwelling on top of the rest. It’s a beautiful, exotic sounding melody, based on a harmonic minor scale. That’s exactly what parts of my track had provoked, and now there is the REAL Stephen instead of my vague notion of his agile playing style by which the original version had been inspired. Also his guitar parts add some craziness to what had been a rather plain track…

Furthermore, he found a new name:

“I’ve renamed the song “An Interlude For Veronica”, after a trashy 60′s spy novel called “The Dolly Dolly Spy” – It has a chapter called “Personal Interlude”, where the hero of the novel describes his girlfriend Veronica… which is quite poetic.”

For no apparent reason, I have added a picture of a Gibson Les Paul deprived of its pickups, with a strange light effect looking like wings, one of them blue, one of them white.

I am publishing both tracks here, for I think listening works better with the original version in mind. You may better separate what each of us did with this music. You may better appreciate Stephen’s playing. Due to our way of sending us mp3s, making it impossible for the other to have separate tracks, there will always be slight problems to achieve a satisfying sound and level balance.

But if you can overcome this, it might be great fun to listen to “An Interlude for Veronica!” Thank you, Stephen – you surprised me. The next one will be easier, promised.

Steve from England has sent me yet another keyboard track with cymbals, named “dark”. This was one I felt challenged by.  In order to surprise him (or maybe myself or you), I added things with no apparent connection to the original track. I wanted it to sound even darker than it was before. This is the first time I tried to record a wall of power chords plus bass in a unison. Although there have been level problems due to so many different instruments, I think the track conveys the original idea.
Thanks again to Steve, who’s track I found inspiring. So inspiring I apparently couldn’t stop playing, and had to add a coda. Stay with the track after the keyboard has ceased – it reminds me of my experimental teenage days, when me and some friends recorded music improvised on self-made instruments. In some respect, it was pure noise, but it had a dense atmosphere… Sadly, I lost the tapes, so I take this ending for a substitute.

All in all, “Darker” may not be everyone’s favorite, but it even contains traces of melodies…

Finally I’m back, finally my health is better, and here is the next co-production with Steve:

Steve from England had sent me a keyboard track that constantly changes between major and minor of the same root, with some percussion added. He told me he had been playing around with the keyboard lately – and that was a surprise to me, for I knew him as a guitar player.

I liked the feeling of the track with the working title “Latin”. Of course it is a so-called Latin rhythm; only I don’t like the term and so decided to add some sparkle from another one of my son’s pictures.

Steve agreed with my proposal to add some more percussion to make it sound more lively. It was pure fun to play these instruments, but my personal highlight was the guitar solo I recorded immediately afterwards. This was the first time I achieved a sound with a Santana-like sustain and a similar character, and ironically I achieved it with the Jaguar, the good old tube screamer and my Vox AC 15. Not at all the kind of tools one would expect, but I had often tried it with Les Pauls or SGs and never succeeded! The Jaguar has a more nasal sound quality to it (which I like), and I consider my sound not a copy (which it isn’t and I couldn’t) but a parallel.

Anyway, this is not a bad one, and I wish I could have presented it earlier. I would like to thank Steve for giving me this opportunity with his inspiring track. In my earlier years as a musician I never came much forward with soloing, being mostly the bass player. So in a way, this track is a dream come true…

With its simple double “a” vocal, the Latin or Italian word for “water” underlines this element’s fundamental meaning. An archaic word.

That’s what Steve’s contribution did to my unfinished track from the last post: it was reconnected with a fundamental meaning.

Although there has been nothing going on on this blog for quite a long time, many things happened behind the scenes. Many recordings were made, but I feel I have to elaborate them more than I usually do for blog posts. Meaning I would need a huge amount of time for each track.

Maybe they are to become songs that need a proper production; an album, maybe. It would be premature to extend on this…

But then there was this additional idea: I invited two English guitar players whom I both know via internet to finish some of my recordings; they as well were invited to send me a track I could complete. It should be done in an easy way by simply sending mp3s, and it should be published on the blog.

Steve and Stephen both readily agreed; which cannot be taken for granted – it can be rather challenging to receive a piece you have to add some instrumental part to!

We also agreed that each of us could ask for another track if there were problems. And no hurry!

When I received two keyboard tracks from Steve, I was quite surprised for I knew him as a guitar player – but he seems to be a real multi-instrumentalist. These tracks made it easy for me to solo on, and I enjoyed the whole process very much. I even added some percussion I played myself, and particularly a “latin” track by Steve gave me the chance to indulge in my Santana roots. That was pure fun, and I would like to thank him for that.

The track I sent him in turn was a little bit monotonous, but I thought it would provide a certain mood which makes it easy to find a voice on top. But how Steve managed to surprise me once more! He did not simply add a new layer to it – he superimposed images from a completely different level on my track. Different sounds, different chords, different moods. What you hear in this post is only my original track, leaving space for you to speculate what he might have added. In just a few days I will put up the new version…

guitar & gear: Epiphone Les Paul, Vox AC 30 (vibrato channel), Tube Reverb

After eight years of continuous guitar lessons a young student of mine surprised me with a good-bye-present of a kind I had never thought to receive:

He had built an effects unit for me! It’s a Fuzz he called “Vanilla Fuzz” because of the yellowish casing – but he has not been aware of a band called Vanilla Fudge which is one of my favorites and fits the topic of this blog perfectly. For this present he must have spent countless hours of building, soldering and even painting; and finally he gave it away just for me…

When I tried it the same day I received it (I couldn’t wait much longer) I found it was nice, but something was missing with the higher notes. After some consideration I resolved to try it with bass – and that was a revelation: it felt like this unit had been built as a bass fuzz device, and as such it is filling a gap in my stomp boxes pool.

As a “thank you” I post a music with fuzz bass on it. And mandolin and conga plus a bicycle bell. Sounds strange? Sure it is!

instruments & gear: Tobias 4-string bass, Vox AC 50, Epiphone Mandobird, MXR Phase 90, Tube Reverb

guitar & gear: Epiphone Les Paul Custom (while putting on new strings…), Vox AC 15 Heritage, Tube Reverb

illustration by my son

When putting the music for this post together, an old children’s game came to my mind. It is called “Himmel und Hölle” (heaven and hell) in German, but it is widespread and known under different names in many countries. A squarish multicolored piece of paper gets folded into several compartments that can be opened with your fingers, showing either the “heaven” or the “hell” part. Children also use the game to “predict the future” by writing numerals on each compartment that apply to a code on another piece of paper.

guitar & gear: Ibanez Lawsuit SG, Fender Tweed Champ for the basic track, Vox AC 50 for the solos, Tube Reverb

Finally I made it! It’s so easy to promise new recordings, and then sometimes it’s kind of impossible to record for weeks. But in the end…

The E-major chord in the beginning is out of tune, once again. But as soon as soloing begins, no wrong notes are discernible. I think I have accepted a guitar player’s fate: our instrument is not tempered, and whenever a C Major sounds fine, E Major will be horrible…

In many songs (mainly old ones) I found it very charming to hear a guitar that’s slightly out of tune. But it happens anyway… Two minutes into a recording your having tuned the guitar before is already worth nothing. And I think to a certain degree it’s o.k., since I like the human factor, the inexact and the non-tempered. What makes Miles Davis’ trumpet sound so great? Among others, that his notes are non-tempered! I like the same quality about the early John McLaughlin. And I understand when Neil Young praises his Bigsby detuning his guitar after every application. (Don’t overdo that! Normally, I would have cut off the initial part of the track… And, yes, I know there is a Buzz Feiten tuning system and other solutions out there).

First you listen to the SG with both pickups activated. There is much treble. At around 0:36 you can hear me switch the toggle to the neck pickup – a sound very appropriate for Blues. I try to play around with several styles, getting a bit funky, and presenting some power chords.

I think the Amber pickups are great. They sound incredibly direct and clear. Even though I experience some difficulty with the neck and the overall performance, the SG has assumed a new status in my little studio, mainly due to these pickups.

guitar & gear: Ibanez SG, Tweed Champ, 2×12 cabinet with greenbacks, Tube Trem as a booster

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar, Vox AC 15 Heritage, BSM Spectrum fuzzbooster

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar, Vox AC 15 Heritage, BSM Spectrum fuzzbooster, Tube Reverb

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar, Fender Tweed Champ, Roland Space Echo

guitar & gear: Epiphone Les Paul Custom, Vox AC 50, Cry Baby Classic Wah, Tube Reverb

So this is the last installment of a trilogy my son illustrated so wonderfully.

This time he even accepted to give it a second try, and it was worth it, as you see. Of course I wouldn’t part with an illustrator like him, and there is more to come. For example I will have a hard time soon, trying to compose some dragon’s music.

Thank you for your kind comments on our collaboration!

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar, Fender Tweed Champ, Roland Space Echo

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar, Vox AC 30 (brilliant channel), BSM treble booster (DM-T)

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar, 1967 Vox AC 30 (brilliant channel), BSM treble booster (DM-T), Tube Reverb

Don’t be afraid, this time robot had a unpleasant dream (you can tell by the dark cloud in his thought bulb), but he is rescued and there is a happy ending!

He was sleeping in his iron bed, being recharged through several wires, when it happened. His friend who obviously heard noises from robot’s bedroom, opened the door to ask what was going on there – and so robot learned it had only been a bad dream. After hugging each other with some heart-felt robot hugs (bang!) they went to bed with relief, sleeping tight until the next morning.

Last post of this trilogy will be: “Robot’s Love Song”, coming soon.

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar, Fender Tweed Champ, Roland Space Echo, Cry Baby Classic Wah (fixed)

“It’s possible to sit in hectic. It’s possible to calm down walking. To rearrange one’s impressions is crucial to the inner condition. The more impulses you take in, the more you need to assimilate them; the bigger will be the need for a break (although you might miss the ultimate party).

You are taking a rest when you have reached your goal. Technical devices seem to make anything possible. Some things you may do simultaneously, most things accelerate. With the world going at an ever faster pace, even the two-year-olds experience schedule difficulties. No time to play in their pajamas in the morning.

Relaxation becomes a waste of time though it helps you pacing yourself. It helps regaining your strength.

Even if a break means delay, it’s part of the journey. It subdivides the way. If you have a plan, you know what’s behind and what’s ahead. So you obtain a general view: Earth is moving us around in circles. Where do you go in such a hurry?”

Quote from the local homeless’ journal (translated)

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar, Fender Tweed Champ, Roland Space Echo, Cry Baby Classic Wah

mikes: Electro Voice RE-20, Neumann KMS 105

As a teenager I attended countless concerts of contemporary “classical” music, which in Germany is still called “Neue Musik”, even if there’s nothing new about it (its roots date back to the beginning of the twentieth century).

That’s not exactly what teenagers used to do, even in those seventies! The reason was I had a close friend – a musician, too – who took me along with him to all the avantgarde or similar presentations, and we were both all curiosity about new kinds of sounds, new ways of listening and new ways of thinking.

I still cherish the freshness that lies in the unusual sounds of contemporary music. It’s a welcome relief from all the clichés we are forced to listen to every day. As an improviser I find myself rather on the opposite side of the spectrum, indeed, since mostly there is nothing written and everything spontaneous about my music – but in an attempt to build a bridge between those camps I dared to improvise along with a recorded orchestra.

It’s daring, I know, but at least it is something rarely done. Parts of a work called “Photoptosis” by German composer Bernd Alois Zimmermann ( 1918 – 1970 ) were cut into pieces and guitar noises along with (yes!) some melodies were added. I’m proud it was a first take, and in the end I liked it, hoping those among you who don’t get frightened off by the dissonances, will like it, too! To me, dissonances are one of the coolest things in music…

The ambiguous title is meant to be so. It refers to the literal meaning of “Photoptosis” as well as to the inherent (s)light disorder of all human beings. After all, Photoptosis takes on a different shape if you listen to it under the assumption it represents pencils of rays…

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar, Vox AC 50, Big Muff, Tube Reverb

For this post I had a new illustrator signed, who much to my satisfaction translates my ideas into pictures. Despite the fact he is only five years old (erm 5 1/2, I am to say), it shows my son can readily paint the psychedelic way (maybe it helps listening to psychedelic music with his father very often), and it shows no mind-manipulating substances of any kind are needed…

So it’s your turn now to guess what this dream’s about! (Amongst humans it’s not a wide-spread knowledge that robots have a very vivid emotional life, but children still know…)

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar, Fender Tweed Champ, Roland Space Echo

mikes: Electro Voice RE-20, Neumann KMS 105

Is there a distinct psychedelic guitar sound, or is it just the same as vintage guitar sound?

To make sure, I added a short medley here, that you might use as quiz, if you like to. I would enjoy reading your comments, if you recognized some of the bands or songs!

Yes, there is a distinctive psychedelic sound, but it happened to be produced with just the same equipment as connected to “vintage sound” in general. I will try to define the most typical traits of it:

Excessive use of effects: as there were only a few effects at the time, these were cranked up to maximum. Tremolo at maximum speed and intensity, until it gives a shattering sound that splices the notes. Reverb: reverberations that seem to last for years…

I think, Pink Floyd were the first to use the Tape Echo, already in the band’s early times. Many signals in their music are veiled by excessive use of this effect.

Edgy or even biting guitar sounds, predominantly coming from Fender or Vox amps (both reputable for being rich in treble).

Backwards guitar: officially “invented” by the Beatles on their Revolver album, there seem to have been different occasions when a band or a recording engineer by mistake put the tape the wrong way, and everybody went “what was that? can you play that again?”

Excessive finger-vibrato (listen to “Deserted cities of the heart” by Cream! Clapton’s vibrato is incredible there. Could that have been a whammy bar?)

Pseudo-Indian playing style by rushing up and down the neck on just one string. Slides and the modal, drone-like sound provide a recognizable allusion to Indian music, with a chirping sound sometimes approaching a Sitar. Guitar players consciously tried to imitate other instruments, or even a siren.

Amplifier-Feedback: with the volume set high, speakers stimulate the guitar strings until a circle of self-oscillation is established, mostly running up to harmonics.

Phaser, only just invented, mostly got applied to the whole mix (“Itchicoo Park” by The Small Faces), but there may be examples of phased guitar sounds.

The Wah-Wah was invented as a trumpet effects unit (!) in 1967 by Vox, and there are only few examples of psychedelic wah wah . Am I wrong with that? To me it seems the wah-wah is more connected to the Hard Rock era, beginning around 1968. And Miles Davis definitely did not misuse a guitar effect for his trumpet (many listeners protested), but it was designed for just his instrument!

In the end there should be no dogmatism about what a psychedelic guitar sound has to be. “Psychedelic” can be an esthetic category beyond historic implications, and is determined to develop further on, along with changing equipment and new effects…

A Bluer Bossa than “Blue Bossa”, I heard this tune composed by my dear friend Saman Vossoughi who plays jazz guitar, and I was like: “what scale is that?”. It sounded so – interesting, so different. And usually I know my scales around…

It turned out this tune is based on Melodic Minor, a scale I had always rejected as not feasible. “It’s neither fish nor fowl”, I used to state, “as part of it sounds like Major, and part of it like Minor”. I simply didn’t know how to use it. I’m glad attending my friend’s concert has taught me to stay open, since I began to practice Melodic Minor as soon as I came home after the concert. All of a sudden I found it rather useful. A week or so later we arranged to meet and record the song in my studio as a one-shot collaboration. Here we are.

The “who is who” is easily to be detected, as Saman has the smoother sound, and my Jaguar is a bit more incisive.

(Saman has dedicated this tune to Joe Henderson, famous tenor saxophone player, who among many other things recorded an outstanding version of “Blue Bossa”. But “Mylodic” bears no direct resemblance to the latter, although it’s kind of a Bossa, too).

guitars & gear: Saman: Gibson ES 335, Vox AC 15, Tube Reverb. Gary: Fender Jaguar, Vox AC 30, Gibson EB3 bass, Cabasa, Tabor, Tube Reverb

An archetypical 60s rhythm, popularized by the famous and most influential Bo Diddley. Originally a typical Caribbean rhythm, e.g. called “clave” in Cuba, but – unlike this – played with a slight swing feel to it.

Important Bo-Diddley-rhythm-kind-of-songs of the period this blog is all about:

• Not fade away – Buddy Holly/The Rolling Stones
• Magic Bus – The Who
• Get me to the world on time – The Electric Prunes
• Gone and passes by – The Chocolate Watchband

So, let your guitar’s body turn into a red rectangle, grab maracas, and play some wild Caribbean thing! Here we go, Bo…

guitar & gear: Sakurai nylon string, Fender Jaguar, Fender Tweed Champ, Tube Trem, bongos played with mallets, mini-cymbals (no maracas, sorry…)

overall mike: Sennheiser MD 421

Back in 1966, when psychedelic art was about to embark.

Two seminal songs: The above mentioned by the Rolling Stones (which I stole the title from and made up a new music to accompany it), and the undeservedly overlooked “Rain” by the Beatles. The latter being published only as a single (not found on an original album), contains the first backwards recording ever and Ringos best drumming ever.

These songs are extreme in a way, as is the track above (coming in three movements) in another. It’s a different time, and a different player, who doesn’t want to compare to those giants…

A snapshot from inside a train, the photograph below simply made me think of “Paint it black”, whereas the music was cut on a different occasion and originally called “Scary”.

guitar & gear: ’67 Stratocaster, Vox AC 50, Gerd Schulte Phaser, Tube Reverb

This time it’s a dream we experienced in 1999, traveling Brazil. Close to South America’s biggest megalopolis of Sao Paolo, there is an island called Ilhabela (“beautiful island”), where at last we found places nearly untouched by civilization. It took an adventuresome tour to the backside of Ilhabela, though, and there were only few people due to the “winter” season, which was not winter at all.

We don’t travel much for several reasons, one of them being the pollution caused by too many planes world wide. But we’re still feeding on that experience. I can’t recall being so exposed to pristine nature any other time in my life.

guitar & gear: ’67 Stratocaster, Vox AC 50, Tube Reverb

It could be the dream of an hidden island.

Or it could be an island dream hidden in the middle section of this track, framed by a not so dream-like beginning and ending.

Or is there a hidden dream within you?

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar, 1967 Vox AC 30, Tube Reverb

guitar & gear: erm, my Les Paul Special being unplugged, what you hear is the plug itself. No kidding (finger percussion)! Gerd Schulte Phaser, Tube Reverb.

A symbolic photo, the inscription saying “old-new-creative” – which means they sold second hand articles, as well as new ones, as well as creative things (whatever these should be). Then they put a sign in the window, saying “for rent”, just above the word “creative”.

I admit, this conjunction triggered my sarcastic side…

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar, Vox AC 15 Heritage, Tube Trem, Tube Reverb

It’s a monument. This “august” tree I photographed last August has lost none of its dignity, which I guess is the reason why the farmers in the area have saved it.

guitar & gear: Stratocaster, Vox AC 15 Heritage, Cry Baby Classic Wah

But death is the source of new life:

Following my habit of stealing titles (not music) from other artists – this is the title of an album I greatly admire: “Conference of the birds” by Jazz-bassist Dave Holland, who played, among many others, with Miles Davis.

But improvising in a similar manner as birds do, was an idea that came to me out of the blue (the association with the above-mentioned album being called up afterwards).

Yes, it is a conference they are holding, and no, we usually don’t even take the time to listen.

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar, Vox AC 15, Tube Reverb

We all know a song of this name, and if you are old enough (like me), it probably brings up certain memories. But the music you hear when clicking the player sounds different – although it is kind of an extension over the original intro…

Clearly we cannot reproduce silence as musicians, but silence may become an essential part of our music. And sometimes it’s the most powerful part.

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar (using a capo for the mandolin effect), Gibson EB3 Bass, Vox AC 15, Tube Reverb, Susannes voice (phased)

[audio:cubism.mp3]

I was 14 years old, when I painted my “masterpiece”, uniting some of my influences in an oil painting I was really proud of at the time. Well, not much later I abandoned painting for something more important to me: music. I know it’s far from a really good or professional painting, but there’s something about it, especially considering my young age…

I never liked skiing that much, though we live in an era where everybody goes skiing. Starting from a photo which I abstracted step by step, the motive was just an inspiration to me for it’s dynamics.

The music is an attempt to reproduce – by musical means – the shift of perspectives, and the edgy, modern feeling that made cubism the starting point of contemporary painting. After recording several tracks, I heavily edited, cut and doubled etc. So this is another collage…

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar, Vox AC 15, Treble Booster, Cry Baby Classic Wah

[audio:gnome.mp3]

Unlike Modest Mussorgky’s famous piece (from “Pictures at an Exhibition”) this is not a heavy march, but a lighter and slightly annoying improvisation, using the built-in damping mechanism of the Jaguar. This patented invention by Leo Fender was something he was really proud of, whereas most musicians found it useless and demounted it right away.

This, among other things, has contributed to the Jaguar’s fame as a “faulty design”; but at least for this recording it proved useful for me, providing sounds only available with this strange mechanism. If you listen closely, you will hear it activated 20 seconds into the track…

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar, 1967 Vox AC 30, Tube Reverb

An improvisation using the tremolo channel of the AC 30.

I encountered this fountain in the center of my hometown, and instantly decided to make up a post named “the kiss”.

The world fades away in this special moment, water freezes, and only the echoes of togetherness remain. The word “tremolo” this time made me think of weird expressions like tremor amoris or fontana tremi.

Again, the resonance strings of the Jaguar and switching to different sounds can be heard.

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar, 1967 Vox AC 30, Tube Reverb

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar, Vox AC 30 (Vibrato-channel), Tube Reverb

It’s the best-known song of an excellent singer/songwriter and an excellent blogger, too: Christine Kane. It inspired me to contradict in sympathy: how can anyone dislike this beauty?

But I understood the meaning of the song’s title. She is not a woman like a woman is expected to be. She has her own mind. And that’s why I love this song.

Dear Christine,

I hope you don’t mind me doing this – it’s completely non-commercial. This song was an inspiration, and that’s true also for many other songs you wrote and performed. I know I forgot some bars in the chorus. I had to record this within a few minutes, but I also think it doesn’t make much difference on an instrumental. I omitted the bridge, but I will never forget the words of that part:

And if all your dreams come true/do your memories still end up haunting you/is there such a thing as really breaking through/to another day and a lighter shade of blue?

Thank you, Gary

guitar & gear: Epiphone Les Paul Custom on three tracks, Vox AC 15 Heritage, Tube Reverb

Max Ernst (1891 – 1976) was an exponent of Dadaism and Surrealism. Trees and the woods were essential to his imagination. His recollections of walks with his father gave him a mystic approach to this subject.

That’s what I always liked about his art: it resonates with my own childhood memories. And for me “psychedelic” is very similar to “surrealistic” – only the two belong to different decades of the 20th century.

So, when I “met” this really surrealistic tree, I decided to compose a fitting music. This time I cut the recordings into pieces and made them into a collage.

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar, Fender Stratocaster, Gibson EB3 Bass, Tweed Champ, Tube Trem, Big Muff, Tube Reverb

Around the time when most people are super-busy in preparation of celebration, I often find myself in a mood which is best described by the exclusive use of minor chords in this piece of improvisation.

Mostly simplified as musical sadness, minor is like the Yin side of music, not action, but reaction, shade as opposed to the bright light of day.

Listening to the completed track, I found it totally adequate to my current mood. And then I listened again…

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar on three tracks, Fender Tweed Champ, Tube Trem, Cry Baby Classic, Tube Reverb

It didn’t happen for the first time: I fell in love with a music nobody else around me seemed to be able to appreciate. Except for my friend Hans, with whom I grew up musically, and who influenced me to no end. But that’s just another story, and Hans has disappeared from my life anyway.

I’m talking about the album “Devotion” by John Mclaughlin, and this happened decades ago. Typically, “Devotion”, not much of a success at the time, wasn’t even much appreciated by the artist himself later on. He talked about the loveless way “Devotion” was produced, and he certainly could have imagined to make it much better. But there’s just one album like that for me – that kind of music I never encountered again. Not even on the other albums of this great guitar player, who had much more success forming the Mahavishnu Orchestra, right after the time we are talking about.

What’s so singular about “Devotion”, recorded in 1970?

First: the players. On drums: Buddy Miles, who had played with Jimi Hendrix as a part of the “Band of Gypsies”. From the moment I got to know this music, I liked his drumming much better than that of the regular Hendrix drummer, and it occurred to me that the Jimi Hendrix Experience should have always been like that. He provides a strong, driving yet sensible beat. (He has been a Soul singer afterwards, but I miss his very specific strength there.)

On Hammond organ: Larry Young, simply a wizard on this instrument, producing one eerie or sparkling sound after the other to add an extraterrestrial aura to the group sound. Definitely my favorite player of this instrument!

On bass: Billy Rich, whom I still do only know by this record. But he is an integral part of the sound, playing beautiful melodies like the others while keeping the groove. His feel for dynamics makes way for the quartet climbing up to the clouds, as I feel it when listening.

There are no vocals on the album, usually being labeled as an early form of “Fusion”, a mixture of Jazz and Rock elements. But there is a unique guitar sound on multilayered tracks. Which makes me come back to my point:

In some way or another, this album influenced me like only “Bitches Brew” by Miles Davis, or the Late String Quartets by Beethoven could.

When I read the book “Zen Guitar” (go to “The Psychedelic Zen Guitar Story” Page of my blog to know more about it), the first advice I got was: go back to the original sound that made you play your instrument! Go back to where it all began. Try to search for the sound of the divine spark within us all. The sound of one hand clapping (to understand this very important Koan, please read the book!).

After having indulged in Santana’s use of the Gibson SG on the first Santana albums, I proceeded to Classical Rock guitar sounds in general, like the Les Paul and the Stratocaster. I began to experiment with tube amplifiers, trying to build up on my father’s profession as a Audio technician. Before his death, he was really into tube amps. I sometimes wish I could have adopted more of his skills when he was still alive…

This taking me already several years, I only recently arrived at the guitar sound of the “Devotion” album. Guess what?

John McLaughlin played a psychedelically painted Jaguar these days.

I’m certainly far from playing like John McLaughlin, and I certainly don’t even try to imitate him. But listening to the improvisation above I can hear his influence, while my only intention has been to capture the sound of the Jaguar. Except for one short part that is a direct quote from one of the album’s tracks.

So now I’m all Devotion to heavenly sounds as well as to a creator who carried me so close to them, letting me dwell in the creation of music who’s seeds were sown such a long time ago.

guitar & gear: the “olympic white” dream below plus a 1967 Vox AC 30 (lent by Thomas), and Tube Reverb

Oh, it’s an exaggeration, of course. I never had in mind to even try to compose a symphony. By the way, my favorite ones are the seventh by Ludwig van Beethoven, and the fourth and last symphony by Johannes Brahms, if you’d like to know. Take your time to listen to them! They are just incredible…

But what I wanted to do here is just another improvisation, as usual. At the very moment when I began recording, the doorbell rang. I knew it was not for me, and so I could go on playing. How I love these spontaneous opportunities!

I just began expanding on the Big Ben Theme of our doorbell, which is real low at the beginning of the track (can you hear it?), due to the microphones being close to the speakers of the amplifier. And it was the beginning of an interesting journey to…, well whatever. Just listen.

guitar & gear: Epiphone Les Paul Custom, Vox AC 15 Heritage, Tube Reverb

This music in 6/8 + 7/8 odd meter is additionally intended as an hommage to Carlos Santana, one of my all-time-favorite guitar players. Whoever heard what Senor Carlos did in the early Seventies (the jazzrockydevadip-phase) will feel reminded. Ethereal.

guitar & gear: Epiphone Les Paul Custom, Vox AC 15 Heritage, Tube Reverb, Big Muff

Generally, electric guitar playing is considered to be a macho thing. The behavior of “guitar heroes” mistreating their instruments, or even smashing or burning them leaves us with no doubt about who’s playground the stage is.

The more I get bored with those heroes, the more I appreciate one of the greatest guitar players cultivating a thing called “woman tone” – a common name for Eric Clapton’s guitar sound in certain songs during the late Sixties when he played Gibson guitars. It is done by simply turning the tone control for the guitar pickup down, while turning the volume control to maximum. With the guitar plugged into a softly overdriven tube amplifier, the result is a characteristic sound that combines rock’s roughness with a wind instrument’s vocal-like voice. Voilá!

guitar & gear: Epiphone Les Paul Custom, Vox AC 15 Heritage, Tube Reverb

guitar & gear: Gibson Les Paul Special, coming in two tracks; Vox ToneLab, Tube Reverb

Here for the first time I’m trying to keep my music from the over-earnestness to which I strongly tend. Those among you who are really ambitious (like I am) know how hard it is to see or hear our own mistakes over and over again, and to know they are out there for other people to stumble over or even laugh about them.

It’s so hard to let go of your self-criticism in favor of spontaneity. For this blog I had to learn that, hoping an impression of freshness would prevail also in the listener’s minds.

Mistakes and little flaws inevitably creep in when you improvise over a period of, say, four minutes or so. The trick is to not let them distract you. And afterwards, when listening to your “product”, not to take the music and the whole project too serious.

A few seconds into this little piece of music there’s an awful chord, but I turned it around as if it had been on purpose and it became the starting point for a very vocal-like expression… So why bother?

guitar & gear: Epiphone Les Paul Custom, Vox ToneLab, tube reverb

These are two friends of mine showing a typical reaction to my music… Kidding. What you see is alcohol-free late night amusement (it’s possible!) at a party in my house, and there were still some other guests…

Would any color be as striking if presented on its own, without the help of a contrasting color? (This could be seen as applying to other issues as well…).

When listening, there is an awfully mistuned chord (about 12 seconds into the tune) we have to accept as the price of improvisation – grumble… Coming soon: a reflection on “embracing mistakes”.

guitar & gear: Epiphone Les Paul Custom, Vox AC 15 Heritage, Tube Reverb

(This post has been drafted right before the disastrous fires in California. For some reason I felt I should publish later. Now we know… This is not meant to take lightly what is happening, but to reflect on a different level what is always there and all too easily being overlooked).

In ancient times people used to dignify the natural elements we are confronted with, mostly in the shape of gods and goddesses.

I feel there is a lack of this approach in our times, even if there’s no way of returning to ancient practice. We should honor from time to time what is mightier than us and lies at the base of our existence. Fire is an elemental force, at the same time warming, delivering energy, and threatening. A sense of this, which has been very lively in our ancestors, still lives on in every one of us.

It is sometimes baffling and surprising how systematically we are pushed towards certain objectives throughout our lives, only much later being able to see the pattern in it. Seeing this, I feel encouraged to go with the flow and to trust my feelings even if I should now be unable to derive any sense from them.

Indulging in my own past I found I had been preparing what I’m doing now literally for decades. Only then no one could see a pattern in these diverging aspirations, including me. As an example, this shows a psychedelic picture I drafted when I was about fifteen years old, combined with a piece of music I recorded in June this year.

guitar & gear: ’67 Stratocaster, Vox ToneLab, Tube Trem

Strange muffled sounds reaching your ears – where could they come from?

Is what is supposed to be a door leading anywhere? In any case you’ll have to enter the unknown after you managed to open it. Maybe it just falls off its frame instead of opening, and you will be facing the void…

Meanwhile the clock on the wall might turn out a Salvador Dali “flexible” or “soft” one, rather irritating than showing the time. Melting away. Take a step out of time, out of your believed-to-be-safe life. Enter the next floor.

[audio:Cm2.mp3]

A few days ago I looked more closely at a drawing hanging on the wall that was one of the last examples of my drawing or painting efforts. It was made on October 7th, 1976, when I was sixteen years old, and about to embark on the musical trip rather than on fine arts.

Although the picture shows some not too idyllic houses of my home town, I always liked the atmosphere provided by the blue skies around them. Pondering what I could do to honor my friend Elspeth’s birthday, I read the numbers on said drawing, and discovered it was just the date of her birthday!

Elspeth has inspired me by writings and pictures on her blog Now Is Wow in the short time since I have known her, and I simply enjoyed several collaborations we did together.

I’d like to thank you, Elspeth, and wish you a happy birthday!

This is actually not on clouds alone, but on the interplay of light and water in the skies.

Take your time to stop and watch what is shown up there every day! It’s for free, and it’s terrific.

guitar & gear: Gibson Les Paul Special, Vox ToneLab SE, Gerd Schulte Phaser

Imagine you are the insect that detected this wonderful flower – that’s the point where the music starts. See where it’s going to take you…

guitar & gear: Epiphone Les Paul Custom, Vox AC 50, Gerd Schulte Phaser

These instruments are not played exactly the way they normally are.

But, hey, this is Psychedelic Zen Guitar, and there has been an intention to show the madness in normality here as well as the normality in madness right from the start…

There are four Garys here, playing different instruments like crazy, and maybe they are…

(I’ve been doing experiments like this since I was around 15 years old – for more than three decades now! I hope I have improved in musical insanity since then…)

The pictures show cymbals in my friend Markus’ drum studio.

guitar& gear: ’71 Ibanez SG, Vox ToneLab SE, Tube Reverb, cymbals, Gibson EB-3 bass played with violin bow

[audio:octavefunk.mp3]

After a long time interruption this is the third and last installment of my little vernissage of Ismael Kamara’s paintings. This guitar looks to me like a freshly opened bottle of champagne!

At the end of the short piece of music here you hear sort of an echo. This was done by simply omitting the two main tracks of the recording. (I always have three tracks: two different microphones, and reverb on a separate track to make it easy to allot the proper amount of this effect).

Another guitar picture Ismael painted in collaboration with his son Salif was shown in lydian.

guitar & gear: ’67 Stratocaster, Vox AC 50, BSM treblebooster, tube reverb

guitar & gear: ’67 Stratocaster, Vox AC 50, Tube Reverb, emulated Tape Echo

[audio:bassmangroove.mp3]

Nothing more to add…

guitar & gear: ’67 Stratocaster, Vox ToneLab, Tube Reverb

[audio:dropDstrat.mp3]

In the first installment I didn’t mention how inspiring the old Stratocaster has been for my photo-shooting . If you like, take a look again at the edge of its body in “volcanology”. Or how it matches the Vox AC 50. Or as a colorful vision in a dream.
Since there are quite a few photos remaining, and some more recordings, too, I add a second installment here. Maybe even a third will follow. I know I stylized and exaggerated a little bit, but how could one handle and “digest” such an experience without doing so? An experience you are lucky to get once in a lifetime…

[audio:flangestrat.mp3]

I already told you. “My old guitar”, the rare Fender one, is not really mine.

But in between it almost felt like it was mine, since I have spent several months with this instrument of special vibes, and we had quite a few experiences together. Moments that felt a little uneasy because my hands don’t like the neck and fingerboard (I’m a Gibson Player), and moments of great appreciation of it’s rich tone that resonated with me…

So parting with it feels ambiguous, too. I’m glad I explored its potential as far as I could by improvising regularly, by recording as many tracks as possible, making up many posts here and doing drafts for some songs I’m going to work on later.

With a tear in my eye I am proud to present some of the very last recordings I made with this guitar. Recordings done without a purpose, just to “jot down” the sounds of the 1967 Stratocaster, that a friend of mine fetched today. He has every right to do that, as it’s his guitar. Rather, I’d like to thank Thomas for his generosity. En lieu of the guitar he left me something equally precious I will soon write about.

Just a few minutes ago they both headed for a far away town, and this is my “bye, bye”. (There will be another installment coming soon.)

Collaboration with Susanne

It’s a summer’s evening in the country. The air is moistening, but still warm. Our friend’s summer celebration has just begun, the tent is pitched, and we take a look down the hills before joining the party.

This is the light version (pun intended) of an evening atmosphere, dusk in this case meaning the beginning, not the end of something…

The musical piece this time consists of far more than the usual one-man-improvisation: though it began exactly like that, it was elaborated as a multi-track-tune, re-recorded and in the end Susanne sang partly improvised, partly well-arranged melodies to it. I can publish tunes like this only once in a while – or it would be just one post a month. But I liked the light atmosphere of the original improvisation so much, it brought up a bunch of additional ideas.

For those curious about the original, I add it here. It may be interesting to follow the evolution of this piece:

[audio:dusksolo.mp3]

participants: Susanne Fritzsche – vocals, Gary Winter – Fender Stratocaster, Gibson EB3 bass, percussion

At some rather early point in our lives we were told that shadows aren’t real. Our caretakers wanted to prevent us from unnecessary fears, and raise our sense of reality.
But now we are ready to know that shadows are just another interpretation of reality, only on a different level. Since the alleged “original” picture of an object that we perceive is not the real object itself, either, its shadow is by no means less real than what our eyes tell us to be the object itself.

In case you doubt if there’s real music after you clicked the player, just exercise a little patience, since the building up of these audible shadows takes a few seconds (you may hear some noises like wind in the beginning and in the end).

guitar & gear: Epiphone Les Paul Custom, Vox AC 50, BSM treble booster, DOD wah pedal

Somehow what I’m trying to do here is to give examples of how we can look and listen. “Psychedelic” in this respect is just a code for a different way of perceiving, for shifting perspectives and uncovering hidden meaning.

It may be essential for us all to learn how to be present in the moment, and to experience the Now wherever we are. Awareness is a primary value for the future, as it is already now. And it is something we have control over, something we can begin with right now.

Perhaps it doesn’t fit the concept of this blog all too well, and I know it’s not the most important thing to do to state one’s Weltanschauung in front of other people. But I would feel bad if I wouldn’t give it a try, at least for once.

Here come my personal “Eight Commandments”. For sure I’m not holier than thou, but I’m trying to build my life around them, every day anew.

1. Live in order to respect and protect life in it’s many forms.
2. Learn how to contain aggression instead of suppressing or falling prey to it.
3. Believe in /find your life’s purpose – there is one.
4. Believe in what most people call God. Don’t worry about the name.
5. Support sustainability. Don’t waste energy and resources.
6. Be grateful for every little thing you got. You’ll live much happier by that.
7. Be tolerant instead of dogmatic. There’s more than one truth to the world.
8. Learn how to think globally instead of just talk and consume globally. This planet is small, precious and vulnerable.

Spreading thoughts like these, and being an example to other people is one of the most powerful means to change the world.

Amen. Thank you.

guitar & gear: Epiphone Les Paul Custom, Vox ToneLab, Tube Reverb

A COLLABORATION WITH “ONE PLUS TWO”

A few weeks ago Jen made a request, writing a comment on the collaborations Elspeth had initiated.

After my first reaction: “this is impossible”, it stuck with me, and I decided to try to create a musical piece about homeless people, which in itself is not easy at all. One evening the inspiration came, I recorded and mixed it, and now I’m quite happy with it. The music resonates with me, and also with you, I hope. Maybe even with those whose rather involuntary way of living this post is about. That’s my greatest wish, since the music was created for them.

I’d like to thank Jen for dragging me into this. It’s a step out of self-sufficiency, out of my encircled psychedelic universe… It’s a good thing for us all to bear in mind that there are those not as fortunate as we are, and how easily we can lose what we might take for granted. Jen, who works with homeless people, offered to contribute the words to this post, and here’s what she wrote about a conversation she had with this man:

Tom, age 59

“you know, it wasn’t always like this. i used to be like you, i had my own apartment, a car. that was a long time ago but i had it. living on the street’s not so bad sometimes, but you know what gets to me? that people are afraid of me. that they grab their kids arm when they walk past me. do they think i am going to hurt their kid just because i’m homeless? when did it become a crime to not have a place to stay? or worse, when I try and talk to somebody, not to ask them for money but just because i want to have a conversation and they look past me as if i am not even here. or worse, they walk around me in a big circle as if i can’t tell exactly what they are doing, if i can’t tell they aren’t afraid of me. that really gets to me. it makes me want to ask them if they knew i fought for this country, that the reason i don’t have a place to live is because i got hurt over there and i didn’t come back right. i mean, i made it work for awhile but i just couldn’t hold it all together. i’ve still got a metal plate in my head. you didn’t know that, did you? i don’t tell people because they think it makes me crazy and i’m not crazy but it’s no use cause people think what they want. that’s the worst part really, people thinking what they want just because i am on the streets. you don’t really know how much you miss being normal until it’s gone and you almost can’t remember what it was like to go into a store and have people treat you right or to be able to go where you want to go.

there’s some good things about being here too. i notice the small things that other people take for granted. see those birds over there, the ones on that wire? they come every single day, the same three birds. sometimes if i’ve got some bread i give it to them. we’ve gotten to know each other, me and them birds. and there are others like me and we help each other out. there’s a guy at the park who can’t walk right. i go and see him every morning to make sure he can get up. sometimes he can’t and i have to help him. once i found him and thought he was dead. i was pretty upset for a minute and then he started moving and i knew he was alive. but i don’t know what would happen if i didn’t check on him. i’m all that guy has. you don’t think of this when you drive past us in your cars with your coffee all nice and warm. you don’t think about how much i’d like a cup of coffee. or about how i am not that much different from you. i’m a person too.

but there’s hope you know. some guys and me are thinking of getting a place. one guy thinks he’s got some money coming. we all get on alright and if it works out we’ll have a place and that’ll be cool. and when i do i won’t walk around anybody on the street, that’s for damn sure.”

Remember the Just Post roundtable:

guitars & gear: Epiphone Les Paul Custom, ’71 Ibanez SG, Vox ToneLab SE, Tube Reverb

This feels like an unsettling journey in the beginning, but it’s promised to end on a consoling C Major chord! Though it had never been planned this way – it happened spontaneously.

Once upon a time there was a hitchhiker traveling the universe, and those of you familiar with the story may feel reminded – at least a little bit.

The picture below is a shoot out of the alien spaceship right after landing. The planet’s strange trees and it’s population, electric guitar playing mice, are in sight…

guitar & gear: ’67 Stratocaster, Vox ToneLab, Roland Space Echo

Only a few days ago I rediscovered a very special vinyl long player in the basement. A former student of mine who had recorded his self-composed music on it had given it to me as a goodbye present about 15 (!) years ago. It’s title is “Psychedelic Underground”. Sounds pretty appropriate for this blog, doesn’t it? I didn’t really appreciate his gift then, not understanding its content and the effort it took to accomplish such a work.

As I don’t feature his music here in order to let my own ideas come through, I focus on the exceptional look of this record: did you know vinyl doesn’t have to come in black? This one has all the right colors on it, and I went some further by moving the camera around, thus creating a hypnotic and shaky effect…

guitar & gear: Epiphone Les Paul Custom, Vox ToneLab, Gerd Schulte Phaser, tube reverb

Would it be possible to improvise on just one and the same note? That’s a challenge I imposed on myself one day. Like in meditation, sometimes it’s good to restrict your field of action. When actually trying it, I found out it would be better to add the octave. Is an octave a different note?

I don’t know. But to be one with yourself like this tree, amidst all weathers and despite the loss of some branches – that’s a virtue.

guitar & gear: ’67 Stratocaster, Vox ToneLab SE, Tube Trem

Here’s the reason why I felt Mediterranean on a rainy day in June – a different meaning of the word “Mediterranean” than suggested by the clichéd photos on a tourist brochure. From where we live the Italian “mare” is the nearest.

This is the stunning interior of an Italian restaurant where my nephew celebrated his confirmation. The food was delicious, too.

guitar & gear: Epiphone Mandobird, Vox ToneLab, Tube Reverb

[audio:muffled.mp3]

Still wondering where all the colors in your dream came from, all of a sudden you got the moon on the phone.

guitar & gear: ’67 Stratocaster, Vox AC 50, BSM treble booster, Gerd Schulte Phaser

[audio:AC50Bm.mp3]

Another guitar painted by Ismael Kamara.

And at its side (to the right above) you see the “Shadow of John” watching over us.

The music is a longer piece, showing the qualities of the Vox AC 50 and a special mood I was in on April 29th…

guitar & gear: Gibson Les Paul Special, Vox AC 50, BSM treble booster, Tube Reverb

profundity [audio:profundity.mp3]

fathoming out [audio:fathoming.mp3]

These two forming a twin entity, you are being invited to enter a door or an entrance to see what’s behind. Thereafter feel the deepness, or measure the unmeasurable like I did by bending my guitar strings more than I ever did before…

guitar & gear: Epiphone Les Paul with Haeussel pickups, Vox AC 50, BSM treble booster, Tube Reverb

Ismael Kamara is an artist from Kongo living in Germany and a friend of mine. Whenever he comes to see me, he brings little pictures showing guitars which he just painted before. And every time he does so, I feel kind of overwhelmed by it. (It’s hard to accept he has done that just for me – maybe a stupid reaction). But then I proudly expose these works in my studio.

In order to thank and honor him, I’d like to show some of these pictures (in several installments) along with further improvisation. Another Link to Ismael’s pictures.

guitar & gear: ’67 Stratocaster, Vox ToneLab SE, Tube Reverb

I simply love this effects pedal by GP-Lightstone (Germany) that is also a visual attraction. The alternating illumination of yellow and red makes me want to dim the lights when playing or recording, giving me feeling of dwelling in front of a fireplace on a winter evening. It can reinforce your imagination and thus inspire you.

Well, but it bears a superb sound quality, too. I found it gave a more tube-like bias to any sound I had prepared before, and so keep it activated whenever I play. Not only serves it as a tremolo effect (like the one you find in old Fender amplifiers), but also as a tube booster that enhances the guitar signal.

Back in the psychedelic days (1967) guitar players eagerly tried to contort their sounds – but there was hardly anything besides tremolo and reverb… So they turned them up to maximum, and off you go!

guitar & gear: ’67 stratocaster, Vox ToneLab, Tube Trem

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

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

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

guitar & gear: ’67 stratocaster, Vox ToneLab SE, tube reverb

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

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

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

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.

Would psychedelia and zen (or whatever connotations these two may carry) go together in any way? – I wondered, I feared, I pondered.

Before starting this project, at times I really felt insecure, or was afraid to become too grandiose about the synthesis of two seemingly disparate matters intended here.

But then it occurred to me that at least within one person this very synthesis already existed – in me. If it’s possible for me to understand, it should be possible for others, too.

What I still found missing was a distinct sign on the material plane – a symbol. I tried to paint one (though it’s completely amateurish), simply coloring patterns from a book about Mandalas. So may I introduce to you -

The Psychedelic Mandala! (or a strange wheel of fortune)

Musically, I also dare to post a more edgy improvisation here (which is quite natural to me and fits the concept – but it’s not meditative!). I gave it the German name “krass”, meaning extreme or harsh or stark. There are a few passages where the vehicle seems to veer off the road, but soon gets back on track again.

Although these may be considered flaws, and although there’s a crackling noise whose origin is a mystery to me, I personally like this “krass”. But I had to overcome my tendency to put it aside and spare you…

Well, some might enjoy it anyway.

Guitar & gear: Gibson Les Paul Special, Vox AC 50, BSM Treble booster, Crackling Demon

A bass solo is what you usually realize has happened when it’s over, and the rest of the band joins in again. To be witnessed in Jazz caverns, or, on record, back in the hippie days: even the drummer and the bass player were allowed to solo, sometimes during the same song (overly democratic as these times used to be).

Most of the time a bass solo is so low (in both senses), many people only perceive the lowering of the overall volume…

But this little piece of music here is different, since there are no other instruments. So if you notice there’s music, you notice the bass solo.

bass & gear: Gibson EB3 bass, SWR SM 400 amplifier

Of course I wore my long hair wig when playing this!

While I fall in love with all of nature blossoming out in springtime, I know all too well about its vulnerability and delight gets slightly blurred with concern.

guitar & gear: tacoma acoustic

guitar & gear: Gibson Les Paul Special, Gerd Schulte Phaser, Vox ToneLab SE

musically spoken, lydian is a mode
emotionally spoken, lydian is a mood

guitar & gear: ’67 stratocaster, ’65 VOX AC 50, BSM treblebooster

guitar & gear: Gibson Les Paul Special, Gerd Schulte Phaser, Vox ToneLab SE

the garden is sprinkled with yellow, when impetuous sounds are springing up…

guitar & gear: ’67 stratocaster, Vox Tonelab SE, Tube Reverb

A trip into deep space (or rather my studio at its dimmest) by means of the good old Roland Space Echo, tape hiss included.

guitar & gear: ’67 stratocaster, Vox ToneLab SE, Space Echo

Anemone: a wild flower with its own mind; coming up with rather unexpected wishes, thus turning the mood around several times.

Guitar & Gear: Epiphone Les Paul with Haeussel Pickups; Vox Tonelab SE; Tube Trem by GP-Lightstone

(I apologize for the guitar being slightly out of tune!)