Friday, July 10, 2009

Band Geek Alert!

Now this is a classic shot!

OK, here's the damage control for this scandalous picture.  In high school (Shippensburg Area Senior High School), I played football and baseball but was also in orchestra and band.  I played double bass in orchestra and electric bass in band.  However, part of band is marching band.  Since I played football, I was not the "traditional" band geek who had to perform at half time and during football games but I was required to perform during parades.  Since I didn't have someone to wheel around an amp with a portable generator, playing electric bass was out of the question.

As this picture demonstrates, the drum line is where I ended up.  I originally played cymbals (Disney World - Orlando FL parade) but later moved to bass drum after I discovered that the drum line had been misplaying the cadence all year long.  Of course, in my head, I imagined the bass drum sounding like a detuned LinnDrum kick but that's another story.

The blurry man running in the left of the picture is Kurt Hargleroad.  Mr (let's be formal) Hargleroad was the band and orchestra instructor/leader at SASHS.  More importantly, he was my mentor and friend.  He taught me double bass technique, music theory, and severely expanded my electric bass playing abilities and love of music.  His instruction and encouragement helped to land me (at age 17) my first professional music gig as electric bassist for Gil James and the Sounds of the Decades (Big Band music) and paved the way for my entrance to college as a music education major at IUP.  He is a key figure from my life and deserves all my thanks and respect.

P.S. Thanks to Kim (Scott) Hepfer for sharing this magical moment from the Newburg Parade in Spring 1988 (CORRECTION - 05/17/87).

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Obomatic - Live @ Khyber Pass (2000)


Back at the dawn of the new millennium, a modern supergroup called Obomatic was formed. Obomatic was comprised of members from Any Questions? (Scott, Tim, and myself) and was led by Steve O (Punch Drunk).

This live clip was taken early in 2000 from one of the first OBO shows. Affectionately referred to as "Tuesday Night Tryouts at The Khyber". Highlights from the night included sporadic loss of power during the set, Steve O's first full body stage fall which later became a show favorite for fans, and a song called "Psychedelic Metal Man" performed by the other band on the bill.

Enjoy this raw, unedited clip from the show!

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

I'm in love...

with a Black & Decker CST1200 Cordless Trimmer! I realize how lame that sounds but let me lay out some facts.

First, I've mowed the grass more times (5) in 7 weeks at the new FFS than I probably did in 19 years at the old FFS. After the third time I mowed, I ended up trimming by hand using garden shears. It took me about 2 hours to go the whole way around my house. Obviously, this was unacceptable. I have plenty of other things that I need to do. Things like unpack, score music to Cleric, set up the studio, stare at the wall, etc.

Here's where the love affair begins. Today, after mowing the grass, I finally broke out the Black & Decker Cordless Trimmer that my parents bought for me and, lo and behold, it only took about 10 minutes to do all of the trimming.

Ahhhhhh, now that's love!

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Cleric Movie Poster

Here's a movie poster for the upcoming Calabi-Yau LLC film called Cleric that we're composing music for. Our tracks range from harsh industrial to spaghetti western. It's not everyday that we record trumpet and maracas at FFS. Very strange!

Monday, July 6, 2009

Even more synths

Another station of synths for your enjoyment.  Here's the list (right to left, top to bottom)...

Stand 1 - Roland HS-10, Korg 707, Ensoniq EPS-16+
Stand 2 - Korg Poly-800, Yamaha DX-21, Ensoniq VFX-SD

Now it's time to move onto the rack gear...

More Synths

I celebrated our country's independence by setting up more of the new studio.  Here's the list (left to right, top to bottom)...

Stand 1 - Korg Poly-61m, Casio VZ-1, Roland D-70
Stand 2 - Korg DW-6000, Yamaha DX-7IIFD, Roland HS-60
Stand 3 - Roland JP-8000, Korg DW-8000, Korg Wavestation