STEVE MILLER BAND 12 STRING ATTACK, PASA ROBLES, CA. 8/14/16

Here is The Steve Miller Band performing at the Vina Robles Ampitheatre in Paso Robles, CA. on August 14, 2016.  Miller has got his Gibson double neck SG guitar in tow and I am not sure if that is a Carvin 12 string model played to the right.  A beautiful sound and sight to behold!

Consumer Technology Association Honors Legendary Musician and Internet Pioneer David Bowie .

Consumer Technology Association Honors Legendary Musician and Internet Pioneer David Bowie .: Consumer Technology Association Honors Legendary Musician and Internet Pioneer David Bowie .

CHEAP TRICK LIVE IN CALIFORNIA 2015

I have beat this drum before.  Cheap Trick is fantastic power pop band who have created many great songs over the years and were just inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (finally!).  Still, after 40 years of existence, a ferocious live act.  Their connection to experimental musical instruments include, of course, bassist Tom Peterson's on stage preference for the 12 string bass guitar.  A guitar design he created.  No denying the power and volume of that bass!  And then there is Rick Nielsen and his five neck guitar.  Pretty unique axe.  How much does that thing actually weigh?  Here they are performing in San Jose, California in 2015.  Cheap Trick, keep bringing the noise!

LEMMY, SPACE ROCK, HAWKWIND...BRILLIANT!

With the passing of Lemmy Kilmister, we have lost a great friend and rock and roll character.  Lemmy was a firm believer in the spirit and power of rock and roll and in enjoying life in general.  Nice philosophy!  Before he started his well known, heavy rock outfit, Motorhead, Lemmy had a turn in the space rock band, Hawkwind. 
What is space rock?  This blog fully embraces space rock and we will explore that topic further at some other time and provide personal definitions.  For now, this clip, Hawkwind's "Silver Machine", features some ferocious guitar workups accompanied by some synthesizer wash and assorted, delayed, reverbed, electronic bleeps and tones.  Space rock!  What a delightful noise it all makes!

THE ANARCHESTRA - MADE UP INSTRUMENTS!

I think this video is well worth taking the time to watch.  We see the workshop and ultimate completed instruments created by Andy Thurlow.  He has called this assemblage of new sonic toys, The Anarchestra.  Furlow has designed stringed instruments, "tuned" and otherwise percussive platforms and some never before imagined music/noise makers.  Very awesome. 

The Electrician vs Planet of the Vampires / Scott Walker vs Gino Marinuzzi

OK.  I was looking for any YouTube clips that might feature the soundtrack music of the influential science fiction/horror picture, "Planet of the Vampires" (1965, directed by Mario Bava).  The movie boasts an interesting use of electronic music elements composed by Gino Marinuzzi.  I discovered this colorful item which also provides some information on "Planet's" unique contribution to movie lore. 

John Carpenter's The Fog Expanded Soundtrack

Director John Carpenter was quite a busy fellow during the creation of his movies.  In addition to calling the shots on set, he would add his sonic soundtrack flourishes during post production.  Carpenter used a very minimal approach to his compositions.  There are a handful of haunting themes that are repeated often.  Simple but effective. Nice, richly layered sounding synthesizers and piano.  Love it.

Gil Mellé - The Andromeda Strain (1971) (Full Album)

This music is very trippy!  I have always admired this electronic score/soundtrack by Gil Melle for the science fiction flick, The Andromeda Strain.  (What parts I could hear seeping out from behind the character dialogue in the movie, anyway.)  Another fascinating aspect of this work is that composer Melle created a number of the sound generating apparatus that created these marvelous electronic tones!  There is a documentary or behind the scenes film documenting this.  Haven't been able to locate it!

Nailing It On Guitar

Guitar playing can never be easy when your fingers can't press down firmly on the fret board.  I think my son will finally get his nails cut so he can more easily handle his axe.

TEENAGE ENGINEERING PO-16 MELODY MICRO SYNTHESIZER

This little puppy is cool!  Barely bigger than a credit card and a couple of sizes thicker, this micro synthesizer is a brilliant musical idea generator.  The melody micro synthesizer is one module in Teenage Engineering's new line of sub $100.00, easily transportable music making devices.  There are also bass synth and rhythm generating modules.  Interesting cardboard packaging for the PO-16 which has a removable strip (like a box of granola bars!) that comes off to reveal some basic instructions printed on the insides of the packaging that reflect the simplicity and intuitive nature of using this device.  Plenty of cool sounds and effects to choose from and a pattern recorder that will allow you to quickly generate and play back ideas.  On board speaker and headphone jack included.  I'm taking it with me on vacation!

Speaker Chainsaw Massacre

An unsuspecting speaker tower is cut in half.  A Polk product demonstration. Yay!

RAQUEL WELCH - SPACE GIRL DANCE

From the wild 1970's, a video of a young Raquel Welch cavorting to an odd soundtrack.  This video holds obvious charms. The music?  A bit futuristic and yet dated.  Brilliant!  Beyonce would be proud! (of the dancing).

STRANGE HARMONICAS - BUILT TO BE HEARD!

Here are a few unusual harmonica designs.  Sound projecting cones are attached to the harmonicas to help amplify the sound.  Nice and loud!

Check out this demonstration of the trumpet call harmonica in action:

http://youtu.be/ZNCYxSlihWQ

DIY CONCERT RECORDING CAMERA SETUP USING GOPRO AND 6D

Well, here was an interesting camera setup.  I was trying to record a concert and get it done with one camera operator (me) with more than one camera. Two camera viewpoints equals visual variety!  I attached a GoPro to the hot shoe of my Canon 6D DSLR.  The GoPro covered the wide angle view of the scene in front of me and the 6D handled the medium close up shot.  I, of course, shot this lovely contraption with the camera on my cell phone.  Technology is indeed a wonderful thing.

YOUROCK MIDI CONTROLLER GUITAR

Here is a Yourock guitar acting as a midi controller for the Akai Miniak synthesizer.  The note tracking is very accurate and the ability to play polyphonic chords is awesome!  The Yourock guitar can be had for $250.00 on Amazon.  Controlling midi equipped devices is the Yourock's strength.  It also has its own built in instrument sounds but they are limited and rudimentary.  I do like the 12 string guitar simulation though!  A very cool product.

LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM IN CONCERT 2014

Lindsey Buckingham in action during Fleetwood Mac's recent tour stop in San Jose, California in 2014.  Interesting selection of guitars!

Fleetwood Mac at the SAP Center in San Jose, California November 25, 2014

Fleetwood Mac performed in concert at the SAP Center in San Jose, California during their 2014 tour.  Here is drummer Mick Fleetwood giving his thanks to the crowd at the end of the show.  Mick has been with Mac for the duration of their existence as a band and shows no signs of slowing down.  He is a rock solid, amazingly fluid, drummer.  The band put on a very electric, entertaining show.

"Jack's Lament" - Jack Swartz

A rendition of "Jack's Lament" which was featured in "The Nightmare Before Christmas", a film directed by Tim Burton.  This is Jack Swartz doing the vocal chores. 

KING CRIMSON JAM 1973

This is a video of King Crimson improvising live in Bremen in 1973.  King Crimson, in its original run, blended a diversity of musical styles in their playing.  A wild variation of instruments are utilized here.  In addition to guitar, bass and drums, flourishes of flute, violin, mellotron and percussion are injected.  An interesting noise results.  The players include Robert Fripp, John Wetton, David Cross, Bill Bruford and percussion whirlwind, Jamie Muir.  It is nice that a lot of these performances were recorded as the band's personnel could shift quite quickly.

"FORBIDDEN PLANET" SOUNDTRACK CREATION EXPLAINED

This is a very cool little demo video by Ben Burtt on how some of the movie soundtrack for the science fiction classic, "Forbidden Planet" was produced.  Burtt manipulates analog tape machines and fiddles around with tape speeds, feedback, and looping to produce some of the sounds Louis and Bebe Barron originally created for the movie.  The sounds of outer space and an alien landscape generated right from the sound lab.  Wonderful!