Spongbob and Patrick Rock Out!

This bizarre box is designed to safely protect an egg enclosed inside.  The box is tossed in the air and allowed to fall to earth.  My son chose the decorations for this egg carrier device for this cub scout group activity.  It is called "Niagra Or Bust" in honor of the misguided (?) adventurers who have taken the plunge over the falls in various containment devices over the years.  Spongebob and Patrick in rocking poses provide egg carrier device decorations.

Syd's Ghost - Proposed Title

A graphic for a proposed Syd's Ghost tune.  A bit of an injoke as Syd's Ghost is currently a musical duo who don't have a drummer.  If they need percussion of some sort, the two members play a tambourine, maracas or cow bell themselves or employ a drum machine. 

Beatles: Rockband Live Demo 2011

Beatles: Rockband,  a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games and distributed by Electronic Arts is here demonstrated at the Fry's Electronics home office during one of Frys' "Tech Shows".

Omnichord Jam

Omnichord jam 2012.  Using an Alesis Ineko multi effects box and a Dean practice/distortion unit to work out some ideas.  The readily available bottle of Tums may or may not be related to the sonic results.

THERI-P Pinewood Derby Car Theremin

This odd creation, called Theri-P, is an open class Pinewood Derby car that has a Bleep Lab's Pico Paso theremin added to the vehicle.  The open class races allow the adult parents of the cub scouts in our Pack to try out their own, often unorthodox, car designs.  Here, I added the Pico Paso, a speaker, and a flashing LED flashlight to trigger the theremin light cells.  The results were a repetitively voiced theremin tone that stretched out for 5 to 10 seconds as the car completed the race course and I was finally able to get to the car to shut off the noisemaker.  Great fun!!!  My son calls it The Syd's Ghost Mobile.

Syd's Ghost - "Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun" Mini Promo

Mini music video promo for Syd's Ghost performing Pink Floyd's "Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun".  This is an instrumental version of the Roger Waters penned Floyd tune.  The visuals are trying to capture a space journey and the music, a stab at space rock.

CABLE FAIL!!!

Talk about trying to fit a square peg in a round hole!  I was videotaping my son's school talent show the other night and was in the process of setting up.  I ran an XLR cable from the back of the room where the camera sat to the front of the school auditorium.  I was hooking up a microphone in front of the stage to capture audio to the camcorder I was using.  I made sure I had the right end of the cable to attach to the mic: female XLR cable end to male XLR microphone attachment.  Everything looked fine and I proceeded to gaffer tape down the 50 feet or more of cable to the auditorium floor.  I went to connect the microphone to the cable and discovered that I had a male cable end to attach to a male microphone end.  WRONG!  Somewhere in the process of setting up the cable, I had screwed up!  I rushed to take the gaffer tape off and reverse the cable so that I had the right orientation and then started to retape.  I got about half way up the floor before I ran out of tape....Well, that's another story.

The Who - Oracle Arena, Oakland, CA., 2/1/13

The Who were in Northern California, Friday, February 1, 2013, performing the rock opera, Quadrophenia.  Here are Roger Daltrey and Pete Townsend leading their who "Big Band".  A very nice concert performance of the Mods related conceptual music work. Windmills were very much in evidence.  Long Live The Who!

PAPER JAMZ MUST DIE!!!

Have you ever been around a kid who starts playing with the loud and obnoxious Paper Jamz products and WON'T stop?  Here is one solution, if you happen to have an indoor tornado nearby.

Jamming with Garageband 2013

My son plugged in to an iPad and using the Garageband app. We have the Jam guitar interface that hooks your guitar up to the iPad. Jack is playing my Fernandes guitar and let me say that it is a very heavy guitar! He doesn't seem to mind. It is fun to play your guitar through Garageband's handfull of amp modeling and effects pedal choices. If you have a quick song idea or riff you want to file away for later, it is very easy anywhere within the Garagband app to quickly record your idea. Nice program that is very addictive!

ART MR-1 Personal Reverb Processor!!!

A very cool reverb effect pedal that I misguidedly sold away. I go through periods of intense interest in music creation and then I have long dry spells of no interest in making music whatsoever. During one of the latter phases, I decided to conduct a massive eBay sell off of my effects boxes and instruments. The MR-1 was a cool pedal with multiple preset reverb effects. The reverb type could be selected by turning a dial to its particular number and then the amount of reverb processing increased or decreased in relation to the instrument signal input into the MR-1 ("wet/dry"). The "cathedral" selection yielded massive, spatial results. The "large hall" setting was also a personal favorite. A lot of these reverb effects can be introduced into DAW's with software plug-ins but this pedal sounded really great.

Here Comes The End...Of The World!

I am sure you are aware that a popular notion being bandied about in the media is that December 21, 2012 will mark the end of the world. Once the Mayan calendar runs out, it is thought by many that some catalysmic change will be enacted upon the earth. We don't know if there is a series of natural disasters that will occur, a heavanly body will impact us, or a black hole will manifest and swallow the planet up. Doomsday is right around the corner and it brings to mind some songs which have embodied a similar thought pattern. Check out The Who's "Had Enough", The Osmonds' "Last Days" and REM's "It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine". Have a listen ASAP. Before it's too late!

Toy Instruments: Design, Nostalgia, Music

I highly recommend this book by Eric Schneider. You will find within the pages of "Toy Instruments", a wealth of musical toys that appealed to children and adults as well. The stylophone is one of the many instruments discussed. David Bowie even used one for his recording of "Space Oddity". I personally owned the Musson toy synthesizer. This simple keyboard contraption incorporated a crude sequencer which could be set to play at varying speeds to sweep the note "pegs" which could be moved to generate simple melodies. I had many hours of enjoyment with the device. I even output the "toy" through delay and effects boxes to increase the fun. Check this book out. Who knows. You may recognize one of your own favorite toy musical instruments!

Merry Christmas 2012!

Have a very merry Christmas from EMI!

Paul McCartney's Electric Ukulele

Late into his set performing at the 121212 Concert for Hurricane Sandy relief, Paul McCartney joined in with the remaining members of Nirvana for a loud noise workout. McCartney was equipped with what looked like a cigar box with a guitar neck attached. You could see him fiddling with the volume and tone knobs, too. Paul played the thing with a slide. I think it was an electric ukulele. Seeing as how Paul plays a uke in concert, this is my guess. A very arresting looking instrument, though. Quite similar in appearance to the guitar Bo Diddley used to play.

Electronics Now Analog ThumbDrum Kit

The Electronics Now Thumbdrum kit was a unit that produced a number of analog percussion instrument sound imitations. As seen in the picture, your fingers would tap on the rubber pads to produce the sound assigned to that tab. The results were fairly crude sounding imitations of hand claps, snare drums, cymbals, wood block, etc. There were pots located on the back of the unit that could be adjusted to sharpen the attacks on the sounds so there was a little bit of extra tonal variety available through the Thumbdrum. The whole kit included building the circuit board with the various components included and wiring to the control pads and then assembling the sheet metal case to its wooden end pieces. A fun project to build with some OK sounding percussion instruments to toy with.

Rock and Roll Assholes Part 2 - Blonds

As they get older, some rock performers try to extend their youthful appearance by changing their hair color. Witness the guy second from the left in this picture. That's not his natural hair color but one day, WALLA! A bleached blond mane. The two folks on the right edge of the photo appear to have let nature take its course and have let the gray have its way.

MONKEES LIVE 2012

The Monkees hit the road again: Mike Nesmith, Mickey Dolenz, and Peter Tork in concert at the Flint Center in Cupertino, CA. Their performance was combined with some video tribute pieces to Davey Jones, who passed away earlier this year.

Bruce Springsteen Afloat!

Bruce Springsteen at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, CA. on 11/30/12. Carried aloaft a human and camera sea.

CONCH SHELL

A true curiousity music piece to be sure. Blow in to the carved opening to make a bellowing sound. What? I hear nothing! A sputtering whimper of escaping air is the only sound. Never got the hang of this one. To eBay and beyond!