For many years now, I’ve been a huge fan of trance music. I think there’s something ridiculously awesome about it, however it’s really hard to explain or discuss what it is. You can’t talk about it. Well, you can, it just does no good because what you really need to do is feel it; once you feel whatever it is about it that grabs your heart, then you can understand it.

Two of my personal favorite DJs of trance that I always absolutely recommend are Ferry Corsten and Armin van Buuren. I find their music to be incredible; it touches me personally, and it’s full of emotion and feeling. I will absolutely have more recommendations on this later. Some songs that have really struck me lately are Twice in a Blue Moon (off of Ferry’s TIABM album) as well as In and Out of Love and Fine Without You Now (from Armin van Buuren’s Imagine). Absolutely excellent.

Of course like with all music, this will change, but it’s helped me get through what I’ve been going through. I hope it brings some positivity to others as well, because people usually think “Oh ok, trance music, dance music you hear at a rave on drugs.” No, that’s not even it at all. You’d be surprised about when you’ll need to hear the music, feel the music; it gets your emotions and mood in ways typical radio hits don’t. It’s food for your soul, but you don’t know it until you find a particular genre you like (I’m suggesting trance, as it’s my most preferred and favorite) and I find trance to be something people can generally like. It’s an every day-whenever-you-need-it-at-whenever-moment thing. Not a rave thing. Not a club thing. It’s a life thing.

Anyways, to get this started and incorporated into my blog, I found these two excellent tutorial videos about How to DJ with Armin van Buuren. Check them out below, they’re separated into two parts:

Part 1:

And part 2:

And for the record, Armin van Buuren is currently #1 of DJ Mag’s Top 100 DJs for 2009. Congrats to him, as he’s won 3 years in a row. Now it’s Ferry’s turn. Just saying!

I try to take my mandolin with me on business trips and find a bluegrass jam in the town or city I am staying in.  It such a great thing to get out of the hotel and meet some people, and it is always an adventure.  Through the powers of the internet (especially folkjam.com) I can find a jam in pretty much any town I go to.

Well this past week work took me to north Louisiana.  I knew for sure I would be able to find a bluegrass jam somewhere in the area on a Monday night, and sure enough, Blanchard, LA, fit the bill.  Through folkjam.com I was able to contact some folks and confirm that the jam was on.

Blanchard is a one stop light town just on the other side of the Texas border and about 10 minutes north of Shreveport.  My traveling partner and I were able to easily make it to Blanchard from Dallas by the 6:30 jam start time.

In fact we arrived about 15 min early.  The jam takes place in the town hall, and as we walked up we could see that there were already a lot of people inside jamming.  In fact, there were about 10 people playing in a jam circle, and then there must have been 20 people in seats just listening and tapping feet.  I didn’t know we were going to have an audience!

My friend and I walked into the room and of course everyone turned their heads to check us out.  We were a bit out of place.  One kind soul came up to greet us and welcome us to the jam.

The jam itself was….relaxing.  The pace was slow, there was no pressure other than the audience who seemed to enjoy anything that was being played.  There were a lot of guitars and the jam improved immensely when the bass player showed up.

I had a great time just soaking in the “bubbling hot tub of humanity” as my dad would say.  Mostly gospel songs were played.  Not everyone took a break, but everyone sang.  It was just a genuine and downright joyful experience.

I think I also broke out with a couple of big improvements.  On most of my breaks I stuck very close to the melody.  I was able to utilize some tasty Monroe licks that I have been working on.  Most of all, I just played to have fun.

Here are a couple of clips I am proud of.

This first one I like because it is pure Monroe.  These are actually licks from “First Whippoorwill” but changed up just a bit.

Monroe Style Clip

This second clip is from my 9lb Hammer.  I like this one because I really let loose on it and got raw.

Blanchard 9 lb hammer

The final clip I am most proud of.  “Jumbalaya” is a pretty popular song and I have always had a terrible time coming up with a break for it.  The reward for trekking to Blanchard, LA, was this break.  It is raw, and I may never be able to summon it up again, but it was sure fun when it happened.

Jumbalaya clip

Trash-Clips zeichnen sich dadurch aus, dass die Effekte völlig veraltet sind und meistens auch in den Augen schmerzen.

Das Video zu Wannabe in L.A. von den Eagles Of Death Metal kann man als Trash-Clip bezeichnen, denn Jesse hampelt ein bisschen in der Bluebox herum, die Effekte sind aus der Mottenkiste und die Farben erregen teilweise Augenkrebs. Trotzdem finde ich dieses Video nicht schlecht. Natürlich gibt es bessere Videos, aber das Ganze passt zur Musik, zum Image von Jesse uns den Eagles Of Death Metal. Jesse ist schliesslich schrill und etwas verrückt.

Auch das neue Video von Pearl Jam ist ein Trash-Video, denn auch Pearl Jam hüpfen in einer Bluebox rum, die Effekte sind aus der Mottenkiste und die Kameraführung verursacht Kopfschmerzen. Richtig gehört… Pearl Jam hüpfen in einer Bluebox herum. Das passt doch ausgezeichnet zu einer Band, die lang keine Videos machen wollte und wenn sie welche machte, dann waren diese Videos zwar manchmal seltsam, aber nie ohne Konzept. Anders dieses Video. Dieses Video ist einfach nur schlecht.   S c h l e c h t. Den Song fand ich ja schon eher enttäuschend, aber mittlerweile kann ich mit dieser unglücklichen Singleauskopplung abfinden. Aber dieses Video passt nicht zu Pearl Jam. Pearl Jam sind nicht veraltete Effekte und ein Statistenpublikum, das etwa so glaubwürdig wirkt wie das Publikum bei Oliver Geissen. Pearl Jam klauen den Applaus nicht von einem aktuellen Fussballgame. Trotzdem flimmert dieses Filmmaterial, das die Bezeichnung Musikvideo nicht verdient, über meinen Bildschirm und beleidigt meine Augen. Mir ist rätselhaft wie man so etwas veröffentlichen kann, vor allem weil man einfach ein richtiges, kleines Konzert hätte filmen können. Das wäre dann auch überzeugend und authentisch gewesen. Aber dieses Video ist Realität und hat die einzige Chance für den Song, nicht völlig in der Belanglosigkeit zu versinken, zerstört.

]]> http://rekx.wordpress.com/2009/08/29/red-haired-boy-fast/ Sat, 29 Aug 2009 19:59:58 +0000 rekx http://rekx.wordpress.com/2009/08/29/red-haired-boy-fast/

Well this is a long time coming, and I am really pleased to be posting this.

Attached below is recording of me playing Red Haired Boy at the “fast” level – according to my taps at this online metronome it is around 123bpm.

My first blog post that mentions the Brad Davis DVD is November, 2008.  I remember when I first got the DVDs I thought there was no way in hell that I would ever be able to play with the fast level – at least not note for note.  It is really cool that not 9 months later I am able to play along with it.

Now I still have a long ways to go, obviously.  I can’t really play this fast with the rest of the songs on the DVDs.  Also, 123bpm is not the fastest that people play in some jams around here in Dallas – they are typically 130-150.

How did I get here?  In my opinion there are some key factors that helped -

• Slow, intentional practice.  The Brad Davis DVDs are great because the slow level is really slow.  In just about every practice session I would start out with the slow and made sure I played it PERFECTLY;
• This blog – recording my progress and being able to look back at what I have done has been key.  When you get into a rut or plateau the journal helps you pick out things you forgot about and keep things fresh.  It also held me accountable when I was not practicing consistently or being lazy;
• Form – I started taking lessons via webcam with Taterbug a couple of months ago, and he immediately identified a flaw in my left hand form.  I took two months to slow things down and fix it, and now I see there would be no way I could play this fast before hand.

I want to give some credit to the mandoliniana blog for reminding me how important it is to look at yourself in the freshest, most honest mirror possible.  Also thanks to flatpicker650 for nudging me to do this and go public with it.

So, here is the clip.  In the recording I am listening to the DVD through headphones.  Its not the best I have ever played it, and its not the worst.  I always like to improvise out the Part B of Red Haired Boy, and I especially like what I did on this take.  There is a little of my stuff, and some classic Monroe licks.  Thanks and please leave comments!

Audio Clip: Red Haired Boy (Fast)

test