Not My Best Ever improv Session!
I had to delete the first part of this session – because it was mostly plugging cables in, and unplugging them again, to try to find out what was causing a massive problem with the sound. I am still not sure I have sorted it out definitively, or if it just mysteriously disappeared, as it had so mysteriously appeared for no apparent reason. If it is not sorted, it will no doubt decide to happen again at the most inconvenient moment, as it did last night!
I can only assume that it is the same bloody gremlins that are responsible for this, as for tangling my cables up, and continually hiding my lighter, and my plectrums!
The Music Starts!
The session starts, when I finally get my cables sorted and working correctly, with some classic rock and roll chugging, Status Quo style – And if I hadn’t messed the loop up, it could have sounded OK!
Undaunted by failure, I persevere. It takes a while for the rock and roll sound to emerge from a wall of sound, as I concentrate on hitting the loop pedal just at the right moment – But, amazingly, I get it fairly close, and it doesn’t sound too bad, except for the volume level, which is too low, and spoils it a bit.
The volume level isn’t the only bad thing about this though, the gaps and the raggedy bits spoil it too! – I try, somewhat unsuccessfully, to put another identical layer on top, to hide the faults of the first layer! It doesn’t make things worse, at least not much, and so I attempt to put some solo notes on top.
At least I get the key right! The volume though is quite awful though, and makes the whole thing sound like a distorted mess! I mostly play the right notes, and in the right order too – and I get the feeling that if I could get it to stop sounding like a horrible distorted mess, it might not sound too bad!
I have a little go at playing a bit of an experimental mode, but it doesn’t really work – So I quit while I am ahead, and try something else instead!
A Copyright Claim!!
Somewhat bizarrely this section, from 3:07- 4:17 hits the copyright flag – apparently it is the melody to something called ‘Jump To It’ – which is the title of an Aretha Franklin song – though the her song isn’t even Blues, and sounds nothing whatsoever like my fault filled, error laden, diabolical attempt to repair a dodgy 12 bar rock and roll loop!
Back To An Old Favorite!
I go with the old familiar Led Zep riff again. I set up a pretty decent loop, I seem to be getting the hang of this one a bit! The solo starts out quite well too – just those damned volume levels that are still quite wrong – I must really sort that out before I have a smoke or a drink!
The track moves on, with some unusual things, that are quite interesting, and sometimes work a bit! But though the playing is technically OK, my heart is not really in the moment – probably after the massive cable mess that needed sorting out before I started!
Still, I consider this short session worth posting, despite its many faults. There is some merit indeed in the Led Zep track. Plus it gives me something to do that is more fun than cleaning out the cat’s box – I get to do that later – yey!
Yours as ever –
Tim Buktoo!
