The Botched Blog
Solo Bass Night 4
Ventured out of the studio to catch Solo Bass night 4. Posted a few pics up on Flickr. More to come, possibly.
Music | Photography | (0) Comments | Link to this entry
Sketchbook: No Longer Empty
More Work in Progress: From Last Weekend
I had some studio time blocked out last weekend with the intention of developing a few musical constructions that have been lingering on my hard drive (there’s only about a few hundred unfinished ideas lurking around in there). But that plan went out the window when I started tweaking knobs and sliders in Thor, the synthesizer module in the latest incarnation of Reason.
I haven’t really spent much time getting aquatinted with Thor, so I just wanted to pop the hood and see what was there. Within a few minutes, I dialed up a tasty little lo-fi analog patch. That lead to a quick little melodic pattern… one of those things that literally just fell out under my fingers without any concentrated effort— I love those. I quickly captured the raw idea in the sequencer… and started building from there.
I fleshed out the basic structure in DP, creating some drum loops from scratch, and augmenting them with a few heavily de/reconstructed rex loops. I fumbled around a bit with my bass cello trying to find a bass line, then added some washed-out accordion as texture. On top of all that I layered in some more bass cello (arco, of course!). I polished off the whole thing with some noise effects and discreet samples… and that was it! With a process that usually takes me weeks, if not months, it was very surprising and rewarding to actually “finish” a construction so efficiently (and be reasonably happy with it, I might add). Definitely not my usual experience.
After a couple day’s listenings, I made just a few minor compositional tweaks and exported a rough mix.... You can download it here: 05_02_08_mix4.mp3
Ambient Bass Practice
I’ve been making a concentrated effort to actually practice my new bass—patricularly playing arco (with a bow), which is completely new to me. I’ve got quite a ways to go… but after several weeks of scratching and screeching, I think I have the slightest of handles on producing a clean note or two. In tandem, I’ve also been trying to build up some looping chops—laying down some random bass line, then throwing all sorts of stuff on top. Not really thinking about constructing anything… just messing around. Practice, right? Anyway… here’s this morning’s practice:
Download: 04_29_08_Bass_Exploration.mp3
(And yes… this morning’s practice was based on the bass line from The Verve’s Gravity Grave.)
It is Near
Just a sneak peak. My illustration-block seems to be persisting… so I went down the path of the anti-illustration. More to come.
Huh… just noticed my previous post was also titled “...is near”. Go figure.
Art | Music | Work-In-Progress | (0) Comments | Link to this entry
Minority Report is Near
In which I post a video of some very cool touchless-interface technology.
Technology | (0) Comments | Link to this entry
Nëw Crüe
In which I did some quick and dirty designs for Mötley Crüe.
Design | Web | (0) Comments | Link to this entry
Vintage Maximum Indifference
In which I participate in some YouTubery.
Music | Video | (0) Comments | Link to this entry
Yuri’s Night Bay Area
In which I post some photos and a few comments about Yuri’s Night.
Art | Music | (0) Comments | Link to this entry
Anybody There?
In which I muse on twittering away the day.
Blogging | (2) Comments | Link to this entry
- My Poor Empty Sketchbook (03/05)
- The Twitter Challenge. (02/27)
- New Instrumentation (02/16)
- Minor Breakthrough (01/27)
- Happy 2008 So Far (01/26)
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Welcome. This is the Botched Blog, the personal web site and hideous time-sink for Gustaf Fjelstrom (that would be me). Part proving ground and rickety digital soapbox, part high tech scrapbook of pixelated narcissism, this site will serve merely to document the journey… lest I forget.
Just updated Expression Engine… Also installed a bunch of plug-ins and extensions. Hoping this will auto update Twitter, too.
Very cool stop motion animation depicting the story of Adam and Eve. Warning: contains naked puppets.
Huh? Wha? Phoo Action Trailer.
Don’t know what is creepier.... Elmo, or the guy behind Elmo.
Check out DEKA’s Luke Arm!
Tom Cruise spoof. Constipation is involved.
A sneak peek at Coraline. Yet another very hopeful-looking Neil Gaiman adaptation.
The Exo-Skeleton is here! Well, almost.
If you’re trying to disguise yourself as a bride, you should at least shave.
Vitange Steve Morse clip on YouTube. And by vintage I mean 80’s. Found by way of Trip’s Myspace.
I like pencils and all… but huh???
Interesting look at a sci-fi take on The Wizard of Oz.... Courtesy of, well… the Sci-Fi Channel, of course. Check out the cool “Infinite Oz” bonus site… Trippy.
Check out Vadermonica.
Crazy insane giant RC Plane Stunts.
More Oberservations » (217 observations so far.)
I’m overdue on some diversions here, so I’ll try to catch up. A recent eMusic find: Isis: In the Absence of Truth. Dynamic, atmospheric, heavy, scary… exactly my cup of tea.
Back in the day, for a short while anyway, I was fairly into Korn. My interest was piqued of late when I heard that guitarist “Head” had found God and quit the band… then piqued again when I came across his autobiography a week or so ago. I don’t know that I’ve ever read a book in one sitting, but I did so with this one.
Jeff Somer’s Electric Church is a rough, gritty, and violent look at the future… where cyborg “monks” offer the promise of immortality. But at what cost? Very entertaining… and a very fast read. I’m looking forward to more from Jeff Somers.
Everyone know about Abraham Lincoln, Right? I though I did… before I listened to Doris Kearns Goodwin’s account of Lincoln’s Presidency. I guess I just never paid much attention (or even noticed) what a masterful politician he was (using that term in the oft-neglected positive sense of the word). From how he ascended to the forefront of the Republican Party with his winning of the nomination for the Presidency, to the skillful knitting together of his cabinet (consiting primarily of his politcal rivals) to his truly great leadership during the darkest years of the United States… Verily awe-inspiring.
While I’ll didn’t extactly read David McCullough’s biography of this founding father (I listened very intently to it on my iPod) I found it nonetheless a stunningly interesting accout of John Adams’ life and the tremendous service he provided an emerging nation. My only question is… Why is it that John Adams’ image graces no US currency?
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