Computer Build #2

Ok, it is 4am and I am running strong on about 7 espressos... I wish I was more inclined to do real work or sleep right now, in limbo... onto the post.

Cooling:

I decided (prompted by wanting the most cooling at the least dB) to ditch the 92mm fan and replace it with the silent Akasa 120mm fan... should be a zip-tie bodge job, which is actually my middle name - Michael zip-tie-bodge-job Barkley; operational but at risk. Anyway I could just be blowing warm air (ha) because I haven't seen the board and I can't say what will fit, but that is the plan.

Additionally I have 2x120mm Arctic Cooling case fans (1 for a top blow-hole type use) and the other for hopefully routing the hot CPU air out to the back. Pretty cool (pun after pun... almost tiresome to write) that the blade design on the Akasa 120mm fan in the previous post offers a 5dB reduction in volume with a 23CFM increase in air flow... all blade design and layout. Awesome stuff - they both run at about the same 1,400RPM or so (between 800 and 1,500 I think are the operational limits).

120mm, 22dB(A), 37CFM

Providing the main hurricane is an 180mm Akasa fan which should deliver 51CFM (not the most CFM, but quiet and actually plenty of air).

180mm, 15dB(A), 51CFM

This I plan to mount on the side of the case and have air blowing directly onto the northbridge, RAM and CPU. Not totally traditional cooling, but I think for my purposes it will be good. Worst case scenario is that I move some fans - no big deal.

I am aiming for a slightly positive pressure system to keep dust intake through air leaks to a minimum, but with huge fans I will be planning on a fine mesh, like a fly screen - mainly to keep out hairs and large debris - fine mesh could end up murdering the air flow. Some use tights... pity mine are all laddered.

Cutting an 18CM circle to give clearance for that large fan will be a bother since I have no hole saws that large (nor should I!), so I will drill a series of 3-4mm holes along the circumference, get that roughly cut out, then with a small grinder bit (in the drill, a cylinder) I will smooth it, finish with sandpaper, and in all likeliness it will look like something from SAW. I am going to check out some plumbing fittings, there could be some convenient sizes which would cover up the roughness.

I will be mounting the fans with a layer of foam (from a Tesco camping mat - waaay cheaper than sticky foam tape) between the case and the fan - less vibration noise I hope! Double sided carpet tape to the rescue; it is VERY sticky!

Finally, and I will confirm this at a later date, but some modern PSUs suck air INTO the case. Maybe to increase circulation within. To me it seems stupid - they are at the top and at the back, a prime area to suck air OUT I would have thought. So, they distribute pre-warmed air in the system; not on my watch. 2 options:

1) Turn the PSU upside down and cut a hole in the roof of the case.

Pros: PSU has good cool air 100% of the time.

Cons: A pain to cut another hole.

2) Take the PSU, open it and flip the fan around, thus making it suck.

Pros: Should be easy, no case hole, more air throughput in the case.

Cons: Warm air through PSU, could lead to a negative pressure system.

I will have to see how the connections are organised on the unit before I start destroying everything! I wish I had huge hole saws. Or a good bandsaw (unrelated, but it would make guitar building much quicker.)

My last 2 days have involved:

Thinking (overclocking, BIOS, cooling, fans, voltages, life, existence, motivation, objective)

Forza 3

Trumpet

Coffee

Sleepwalking

Cacti

It is cold, my bed is warm, best leave now! Parts arrive tomorrow (today in a few hours I hope to be realistic since 5am is on the way up).

Mike

Computer Build #1

Right, Blogger wiped my last blog text which I am now re-writing, but in a more indignant and to the point manner.

I am building a new computer - my 4/5 year old Acer 5051 is near death's door. I didn't want to spend too much money as I don't have a lot, but I decided to build a machine which will be somewhat future-proof.

-DDR3
-P55 (socket 1156) board
-supporting high FSB
-supporting FAST memory

I decided to build a system based around the i5 750 chip which is a bit legendary for overclocking. People have boasted a safe 4.2GHz (from 2.66GHz) - that seems a bit heavy for me, that chip ran at 80*c and would require me to upgrade the cooling solution I ordered, so I am aiming for 3.6-3.8GHz.

A rough idea of power (processor benchmarks):

N270 (1.6GHz single-core Intel Atom) - 300
Turion-64 (2GHz single-core AMD) - 400
i5 750 (Intel Quad-core at stock 2.66GHz)- 4100
i5 750 (at 3.4GHz OC) - 5400

I am hoping to nearly grace the 6000 with the full over clocking.

For CPU cooling I have chosen an Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro:

It is quite a brute of a cooler, and it wasn't that expensive (£20). I hope it fits on the motherboard - it should clear the capacitors at the ram slots, but it may obscure a ram slot, regardless, we will see. It can always be sent back or modified - I am not afraid of wire cutters or a hacksaw :)

Worth noting that the above CPU cooler, the PSU and the 120mm case fan are especially quiet - nothing worse than a BIG WHIRRING desktop!

The motherboard is a Gigabyte GA-P55-US3L Intel P55 which should facilitate easy over-clocking. Should be able to push the FSB speeds enough on it. Not really worth including a pic, but I will anyway!

The RAM is DDR3 - Geil Ultra Series (4GB) PC3-17000 2133MHz (Dual Channel). Having really fast RAM is an advantage, because I will have to under-clock this to over-clock my CPU.

Being tired is really lowering my interest in talking about every component - lets keep this sharp.

- 500W OCZ eXtreme PSU

- boring cheap ATX tower

- Akaza 120mm silent case fan

- Radeon 4350 1024MB PCI Express graphics (IE cheapo, low powered graphics - not intending to game)

- Samsung Spinpoint F3 500GB drive (16MB buffer, SATA-II)

- Existing 22" Acer screen (x224w or something)

All in, I spent about £80 more than I wanted to, but it is a system which should be blisteringly fast with plenty of upgrade potential. In the future I plan to add:

1TB drive - preferably Samsung - never had a Samsung fail, quiet great drives. Unlike Hitachi - in my family in the past year we have witnessed 5 Hitachi drives fail. Can you believe that?! Total rubbish. AVOID. Western Digital have let me down before, but I have an external which has been reliable for years now, so no complaints.

A further 4GB of ram.

A DVD-R/RW drive, preferably a dual layer one - should only be near £20 - I have an external which will do for now.

A card reader - again, I have an external, but it would be nice to have one built in.

Anyway, it should arrive on Thursday, so I am excited! I expect a few days of no sleep and Prime 95 torture testing on the computer :)

Till then... peace!

Mike

The bass is complete! Video #1

I have finished the bass, and this is a preview. I will be posting the complete build photo set soon complete with commentary and writeup, so I won't bother with that here!

Thanks to Mark McKnight for the music:
www.markmcknight.co.uk

Thanks for watching!

God bless,
Mike

Nearly there

Job nearly done!

Bruce Adams Hang

Another one for you instrumentalists/jazz musos...

I went to Luton last year or the year before to hang with Bruce Adams, get some tips on playing etc etc... Well it was a great day, Bruce is a total gent, a really fabulous trumpeter and great cook! Over the course of the day I got fed, watered and musiced (new verb...). We chatted and played, ate chilli and had a couple of beers - it was a great day. I learned soo much from listening to Bruce play - I recorded 3 tunes on my wee H2 recorder, I wanted something to record his playing so that by listening over and over I could appreciate his phrasing etc etc...

I have put the track online and you should have a listen. Some of it is me talking with him (nothing much more than small talk), but what speaks loudly is the music. Such natural rhythm and time feel and a real sense of swing. There are a few audio anomalies - where I have had to boost the gain to pick up the talking etc etc...

The tracks: Softly, As In A Morning's Sunrise, I Remember you, Groovin' High.

Bruce has a number of great recordings out, my favourite is "Sure As You're Born" - worth checking out. He does a bunch of recording with Alan Barnes and is featured on the Cat Anderson chair on the "Echoes of Ellington" disk - this is another cracker. With respect to the other guys on that album, who do play well, Bruces' solos blow them out of the water - such command, confidence and coherence within. I am also fairly sure there is a Double F# or G on that album... chops of steel!

Bruce was over doing a solo spot with the UYJO (Ulster Youth Jazz Orchestra) - I was playing for them at the gig, and it is the first time I met him. He pretty much scared the whole band... Good times! This was probably 2007.

Some clips of Bruce from his Myspace:

http://www.myspace.com/bruceadamstrumpetflugel

Take her easy!

Mike

Mouthpiece placement. Upstream/downstream.

For the benefit of any brass players who happen to read this blog, I will post more things that Mic Smith has generously shared with me! I will include my email, and amend any facts necessary! WARNING: This gets geeky, and only touches on a small area of playing, one which fascinates me all the same.

Hi Mic,

I decided to check out a Curry 3C. from the marketplace, and man it is a really nice mouthpiece. I think it is becoming my fave quickly. It has the big fat sound that the TF has, sounds brighter, slots nicely and is in tune. Cheers for the tip - I thought it would be like a Bach 3C which is why I didn't bother with it for some time, and it isn't! Still favouring the 3M. for lead, but the 3C. could quickly become the go-to piece! I am playing Joseph in a local production in a few weeks time, might see how it goes!

I am still having inconsistent days, but on those good days I am playing up to a good F. At a band competition I had a decent Ab on the cornet... which was uncalled for but out of an immature reaction to a comment made I played the solo cornet line 8va... I didn't do this on the actual competition :)

I wonder if you have experience of players who can switch to an up-stream style embouchure from a downstream type. I reckon it isn't a great idea, but I will admit to doing it for the thrill or when I am really beat, I don't do this much in fairness. I can quite often pick out a double C at about a mf - F dynamic, or up to a G at any volume I want, but I really do avoid this because I reckon it isn't good practise... The give away is when you can't play in the normal register with any security, but the switch is pretty quick, 8th rest if even. I know in 1 example, Bruce Adams (big Scottish trumpeter, really great jazz player) used to gig a lot in his youth (6 hours a night from 14 years old) and I think he hit his lip and he had to do shows and learned how to play upstream and always has since, but that was due to physical damage. That is a pretty serious case! In any case, Bruce has INSANE range - often something I attribute to upstream players.
Anyway, just a quick update - I hope you are well in what is probably unquestionably warmer weather than we have... and I have nothing to complain about... yet! How are those new springs? I emailed Kanstul to see if I can get my 1525 valves moving better

Mic's reply:

Hey Mike,

Like I said, I find my self using the 3C as much as possible. There's something unique about the cup shape that makes it more efficient than say a Bach 1C or 1C shape without losing the depth of sound players like. Before this 3C, if I were on a Broadway show, I would use either the the 3B or 3DE. Now, there is no choice to make...it'll all goes to the 3C. The 3Z I just sold was a great lead piece but I did have to deal with compromises in my sound on or below the staff. After shipping off the 3Z this past week, I worked a couple of studio things where I used the 3C so I basically spent the entire week on that piece. I had a couple heavy-hitter lead gigs this weekend and used the 3DE. I found that there was no loss of power, range or endurance using it as opposed to the 3Z. Sure, it might take a little more air but not much more. I like the depth of sound the DE provides...something that was lacking with the Z.

I know you probably hear all kinds of theories about lead players having to play on extremely small and shallow equipment. They say its a sign of being efficient as a player if one can handle playing all night on a 6A4a. The problem is that your chops have to have room to vibrate and this has nothing to do with the size of one's lips, contrary to popular belief. I've worked beside too many players with huge lips who sound quite good on very shallow cups for this idea to make sense. While I can play on cups as shallow as the 3Z, it did start to feel a little cramped towards the end of the night. With the 3DE, I don't have this feeling. It plays as free as the the 3B I use for classical work.

As far as your upstream experiments go...be careful. It doesn't hurt anything to experiment a little but make sure you aren't killing your "bread & butter" downstream embouchure. I actually took a couple lessons from Doc Reinhardt way back in the day. He "diagnosed" me as a type 3B downstream. He said that a lot of 3B's make a gradual progression towards upstream players due to them performing a lot in the commercial world. As you know, the bottom lip is all but indestructable so moving the placement down to, say 1/3 top, 2/3 bottom can help a player deal with pressure better. I've never messed with it much as what I have works pretty well and it would probably screw up my classical sound. The one thing I do know (for me) is that keeping almost all the weight on the bottom lip is a great way to increase your endurance because it babies the top lip. I used to have an exercise I made up that promoted keeping the bottom lip as the "anchor". I would play some note in the staff and while holding it, I would move my jaw out and slightly rotate the horn down to the point where it ALMOST breaks contact with the upper lip. So, at this point, 100% of the weight is on the bottom lip. Once I got the feel for this, I would start doing everything with this set up. The depth of sound isn't quite as meaty but its more of a feel thing. While I normally play with more weight on the bottom now I will use this little trick on long blows where I don't want to tire the top lip out. I would try this before taking the plunge into upstream but only you can decide if its hurting anything.


I benefited from that info quite a bit. I think my reply email sums this up best - again - this is online for the benefit of others, not me - I have benefited already. Take the care to note why I benefited - I was returning to a previous mouthpiece placement, previously avoided due to damaged tissue in my lip. Soon I will experiment with a 1/3 top, 2/3 bottom lip placement soon, with all pressure on my lower lip. I have not yet tried this - I want to understand the implications of this. I am currently working to consciously lower pressure, extend the lower jaw and solidify a happy placement of mouthpiece - too high was clearly a temporary answer for a temporary problem which in hindsight could have been cured by using a sensible mouthpiece, less pressure and a LOT of long tones. More at the end.

Your comment on mouthpiece placement was very interesting... and rewarding. And above all - even when I reckon my mouthpiece can't get any lower, it still hasn't hit 50-50... (this is when I am lowering it in experiments).

Ok - so I don't change mouthpiece placement just randomly because of emails or because I think I suck and it is bound to be gear related... but I did change it because I remember consciously moving it up once because 1) I had hurt my lip playing too much on a really sharp-rimmed tiny mouthpiece about 2 or 3 years back - moving it up seemed to help (I also went to a larger piece, from basically a Schilke 13a4 size to a B4S - a 3C). and 2) because although the range suffered, my sound on the B4S plus moving the piece higher, was much mellower and pretty. That I now know was substitute for a "useful" tone. Mellow is at times synonymous with dead to the younger player (I was he) I didn't realise how useless such a dead sound was! Anyway - the past week or 2 I have been doing a lot of my blowing on the 3C. or the 3M. - they are soo similar - the 3C. is a better all rounder, the 3M. is less work in big band, yet I want brighter in that case... anyway - after looking at some older photos of me playing - say 4 year old ones - I had a lower mouthpiece placement. So I reckoned it was worth a shot. I don't use that much arm-pressure when playing, so I figure I can't damage myself just experimenting. Well I tried it - it felt foreign, but nice. My sound became more vibrant or clearer, pitching went a bit weird, but when I slotted a note it seemed solid! Chipping and splitting a few easy notes, but everything else was better! I think my horn angle is a little lower now, my range is about the same, my attacks 100% clearer, my sound much fuller (if a little brighter or richer), and my endurance is better surprisingly! I can't muscle high notes as easily when tired - but I don't see this as a downside - I shouldn't be doing that anyway! As for sound - I still like the dark sounds, but the core sound I have on the 3M or C or TF or Z when I can play it is the same, but the overtones and quality differs. The TF is a dream to play, soo easy, I guess I like the looser slots and mellow tone, but it is draining and lacking sometimes. The 3C. is cracker for most everything else - did a little lead on it - sounded good!

Again - thank you for your help - I am glad you mentioned moving the piece down - I had forgotten that I had consciously moved the piece up in the past and by the results I am getting now - it was detrimental! I am no Charlie Scheulter, but I am pleased to have made more of an improvement by what could be returning to my older position, or perhaps even lower than that. I am going to experiment - I will have to get a feel for where it sits optimally for me. I feel like I need some weight on my top lip to make everything work - weight wise I think I play about 1/2 1/2, but trying my best to favour the lower lip - admittedly if I am wrecked there is sometimes a tendency to lay it on the top lip which is bad, but I do try to avoid that!

And there you have what, for me, proved to be invaluable correspondence. Again, I urge you to check Mic's playing - support a fabulous musician!

www.myspace.com/micsmith
"Trumpets Alone" Mic Smith
Available at CDBaby:
http://cdbaby.com/cd/micsmith

I want to stress how player-specific this is. For a full month I have been playing with a lower placement, and it is working for me and probably because I used to play somewhat like this. I am going to try 1/3, 2/3 placement, and work on getting the weight on my lower lip, but I reckon that what I have is what I am going to work with. As Mic and other great teachers say - experiment, but realise when you are doing yourself harm - tread cautiously! Re: downstream/upstream, well I am classed as a IIIB embouchure (downstream), and I make the switch (to upstream) - when I take the head-staggers or sometimes I am just plain done. I know for a fact that working on this and not my normal IIIB setup is detrimental if done in excess. There is also the tendency to play the uppermost notes on a lead pad with the upstream embouchure - this never trains the normal set to do this work and ultimately you (I, me) am taking a step backwards - if that clarifies anything for a reader, I am happy - I learned this the tough way.

Finally, for anyone who gets the WTF face when they read "Curry 3C. mouthpiece" etc etc... I will make a brief synopsis so that you can stay with me.

Deeper mouthpieces emphasise lower harmonics and sound darker/mellower, less harsh. Shallower mouthpieces do the opposite, and there are varying degrees in between. The mid point most often being the "C" mouthpiece. I my case a "Curry 3C.". The reason is that different music demands different sounds, furthermore the shallower mouthpieces facilitate playing louder for longer in the higher tessiatura. This page explains the Curry mouthpieces that I currently use.

If you got this far - pat on the back. If you got this far and don't play a brass instrument - I will buy you a pint!

Cookin chilli at 2am

Nom nom!

Getting there!

This is a sneak preview of the bass project. . . Stay tuned . . . What a bad pun!

Will Vinson

Wow

In the back garden with Lily

This is my cat, and she is pretending to like me today! Probably wants more food! Cute wee thing, bit of a belly though :)

Good morning!

This is all I need! Good morning Espresso. :)

Sound concept ideas with Mic Smith

I have had the privilege to be in fairly regular contact, via email, with trumpeter Mic Smith. Mic is a top US studio musician, and a snippet from his biog, for your information:

Mic Smith received his formal orchestral training while attending the Peabody Conservatory and the Julliard School. His teachers include Wayne Cameron, Ray Moore and William Vacchiano. His professional experience includes performances with the Baltimore Symphony and both the Broadway and road companies of “Cats”, “Phantom of the Opera” and many other touring shows. He has worked as lead trumpet backing up many performers such as: Frank Sinatra, Celene Dion, Pia Zadora as well as many others. In the studio, he has recorded many radio and TV jingles as well as film scores and CDs. Currently freelancing in the Tampa/Orlando areas, he enjoys a wide variety of work from recording studios, solo engagements, and various chamber ensembles to corporate and Latin bands. Mic maintains the position of principal trumpet and orchestra contractor for the Spanish Lyric Theater.

To add, he has been on the road with Brian Bromberg and played lead for Arturo Sandoval recently... he can REALLY play, and I have asked him many questions on many aspects of playing which he has graciously answered! I will include one here, it is interesting reading.

My much abridged question:

How do you think you should find your own sound, and how does this fit in being an adaptable musician?

Mic's answer:

Your question about the sound ideal is a good one. Sure, with every context you play in you'll have to change your sound to a degree. Using the right mouthpiece is what I prefer as it limits the amount of adjustments I have to make. I could use the Curry 3BC (deep and dark) to cover a lead book but I would have to work very hard to brighten my sound and this can get tiring. With the 3Z (shallow and bright), the sound is already brighter so my effort is saved for the demands of the book. In the studios, I have to cover all the parts on a session, meaning I will be playing trumpet 1, 2 and 3 etc. Usually, they like to double the parts as well so that means 6 tracks for one tune. I like to use a different mouthpiece for the doubling because it fattens up the recording...sounds like different players were involved. Since you're really asking about your personal jazz sound, you already have that. Of course, you've listened to Freddy, Clifford, Miles, Brecker, Botti, Dizzy, Wynton, etc., and have their sound in your head too but if you record your solos, you'll find that you do have your own sound. Each time you practice or play a gig, you're taking the sounds you've heard from these guys and mix it in with your own so a "sound evolution" of sorts is always taking place. In a jazz context, there is a lot of room for sound variety...everything from dark and diffused to bright and centered. In the classical style, there is a much smaller target for sound. Here, you need to play with a darker, fuller centered sound that more closely matches what an orchestral trumpet player would sound like, even in a solo setting. Its logical because everything in a classical setting is more strict. I have to change my sound all the time in the studios because I might be on a film session (orchestral) from 10~12 and then a commercial lead session (accuracy + high notes) later in the day.

The bottom line is that if I were you, I wouldn't worry so much about your sound. Let it develop and evolve. You sound like you know what you're doing so this shouldn't be a problem for you. Each player out there has their own sound, even in an orchestral setting. Listen to a bunch of recordings of the opening of Mahler 5 and you'll hear many different sounds. If you're worried about your sound getting lost in the mix of all of this, make sure you dedicate time in your practing to gaining control over your sound. Take one of the Charlier etudes and play it several different ways. Try it with a big, dark orchestral/soloist sound, then repeat it with a more relaxed maybe jazz-like sound. You can develop a lot of control over what is coming out of the bell this way. Of course, as you know, when we're playing with other trumpet players in a section, we need to keep a lot of the personal inflections out, such as vibrato and we need to blend. The principal/lead player will have more flexibility with this but not overly so...he still needs to sound like part of a section. So, you'll find yourself using a generic (wallpaper) sound for this only because the section as a whole is more important (in this case) than the individual player. When you are the soloist, you can make your sound what YOU want it to be as long as you're staying within the genre.

Great answer I thought, and it has helped me a lot - thanks Mic!

Check Mic's playing out:

http://www.myspace.com/micsmith

http://mic.bandcage.com/
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/micsmith

Ok, I have some more of his emails concerning playing which are very informative, I will add these at a later date!

Take care and God bless,

Mike

The beginning

This is the start of a fretless bass guitar. More later! Wood is glueing.

Sea shell on a...

A find.

Down by the beach

Out the front of my house, what a lovely evening!

Tonights Italian meatballs

The before shot. Rosemary on the way - thieving that from mum's garden! I am hungry!

Dod's

More of a post for the owners of the house! Great night with great friends! Going to slumber land with Family Guy! More practise tomorrow, and maybe cooking. Sort of fancy more chicken soup. . .

Je l'aime

:)

Cooking with Chris

Jambalaya with Chris. New recipe, super! Look forward to eating this bad boy! Next. . . . Jazz.

Studies, wine, office

Monday night. . . Charles Colin advanced studies, cheap wine, the office. Nice.

My special diet!

This is how i keep my body is such sweet olympic swimmer state :) fried eggs and moka made espresso. Serve with soda bread and garnish with bacon! I don't often get breakfast but dan left this morning having fried some bacon which really put me in the mood for a mini health break! Not even remotely related to music, sorry! Though I am currently writing music. I like mobile blogging!

Merville House Début

I did my official first gig on the 30th of September, and I will briefly summarise - I have practise to do, a computer to re-format and install Windows 7 onto, music to write and stuff to tidy. All on top of my hefty 7 hours a day of procrastination! How will I do it? Easy... go to bed at 7am again.

I was playing with my go-to musicians, Scott, Dan and Matt. These guys are awesome, and make my life easier by keeping me right when needs be and just playing the hell out of their instruments! The first 2 tracks were a bit nerve racking, but I soon relaxed into the gig and besides the odd clam, I think overall it was a great wee concert. It was very well attended which always makes you feel like playing better and doing your best to play music. I shan't say much more. I was very pleased with my tune "Dawn" which I wrote for the concert, it was played very nicely buy the guys and by my own estimation, is probably the start of me writing more modern music.

Well the first review is through:

http://projectormonkey.com/2009/10/the-michael-barkley-jazz-quartet/

Band Members:

Michael Barkley: Trumpet, Flugelhorn
Scott Flanigan: Keyboard
Dan MgGeown: Double Bass
Matt Weir: Drums

On a typical evening where local acts provide the entertainment, usually it entails watching a haze of check shirts and floppy fringes bouncing up and down like the stage is their mother’s mattress, and the music sometimes falls on deaf ears, or causes deafened ears. However, this is a particularly different concert to which I normally attend. In Newtownabbey, The Michael Barkley Jazz Quartet are about to embark on their first gig.

Recently appearing on late night BBC radio show with Linley Hamilton, local music virtuoso Michael Barkley has been performing in the background of many high profile musical events around the country for many years, and this evening, the spotlight is finally all on him, armed with his extraordinarily talented backing band.

Playing to a rather small audience in an even smaller room, the quartet ran the jazz gamut, playing impressive renditions of Miles Davis, a thoroughly enjoyable Bossanova number, and a gorgeous original piece, entitled “Dawn,” which Mike informed the audience that it was only penned 48 hours previously. That is something quite spectacular, especially considering that the piece sounds like a 40-year old jazz aficionado painstakingly wrote it over a period of months; never mind a young man of 22 years of age writing it within an evening. No doubt about it; this is perhaps one of the most talented young men performing in Northern Ireland today.

Though jazz is certainly not the cup of tea of most modern music fans, The Michael Barkley Jazz Quartet deserve more praise than most local acts out their, on the merit of their acute musical sensibility, their enormous respective talents, and their humility. So pour yourself a glass of brandy, get comfortable in your burgundy robe, open your Nuts magazine (if you like that sort of thing…), and have The Michael Barkley Jazz Quartet provide the soundtrack to a sophisticated and enjoyable evening.

These guys are available for bookings and private functions. Check them out on http://www.myspace.com/michaelbarkleyjazz

In other news I have started keeping a practise diary, just noting how much I play each day to keep me focussed and to help me level it out to an even 4 to 6 hours if at all possible. I will maybe spreadsheet this and share in December. Friday was a LAZY day for me! 1 hour. For shame!

Time to organise the photos from the gig and get some long tones going!

Mike

Trumpet in low g

I was messing around with my trumpet and was able to get a well tuned low g by swapping the pipes and connecting them as pictured. This is probably bad for the instrument! Still it was cool to hear such a sonorous low g! Time to email will spencer!

Some roses, test 2.

A 'grand lincoln' and a 'peace' rose. These are all from my front garden and they smell fantastic!

Test from k800i

Some beers!

Opening gig, radio

I have been a bit lazy on the blog front and this entry will be no different, I must go to sleep. I was on the radio recently, you can check it this week here: (30:29 in) http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00mzt8w/After_Midnight_with_Linley_Hamilton_27_09_2009/

I will rip that to mp3 and put it online soon, so don't despair (as if you were).

My first official quartet gig in my name is tomorrow night!

I will be doing standards and a tune called "Dawn" that I wrote 2 days back. Should be a good evening!

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/michaelbarkleyjazz

Radio: (30:29 in): http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00mzt8w/After_Midnight_with_Linley_Hamilton_27_09_2009/

Mike

Demo tracks!

After some serious practise and a lot of planning to make this happen, I have my first 4 demo tracks done, so before I start writing rubbish about bio-mechanical death monkey-sharks I will post the appropriate links!

Myspace (feel free to add me as a friend!)

http://www.myspace.com/michaelbarkley

And tracks on Box, which will probably be a better quality and can be downloaded (all 320kbp/s MP3s)

Softly, As In a Morning's Sunrise:

http://www.box.net/shared/8zlj064xb1

I Remember You:

http://www.box.net/shared/h3rxlzeyq7

Footprints:

http://www.box.net/shared/u2i2oh9bpg

Killer Joe:

http://www.box.net/shared/8aj9s9n4uh

The musicians on the tracks, again, were:

Michael Barkley - Trumpet and Flugelhorn

Scott Flanigan - Piano

Dan MgGeown - Double Bass

James Anderson - Kit

And the sound engineer was John King.

I want to thank these guys again for the fantastic playing, and for coming to record with me! John I want to thank for doing such a great job on the recording and mastering! Thanks!!

Recording is totally new to me, and so some of this is a little green sounding on my behalf. It has highlighted areas in my playing that need attention and it has been a great learning experience! I can't wait to stop being sick, get back to practising, and start planning the next one! Next time I will really hope for more time for the recording, and perhaps write some original tunes for it.

I don't have too much to say in this entry, so do have a listen to the tracks, and drop me an email if you want:

michael . barkley 07 (at no spam) gmail dot com

Cheers and God bless!

Mike

Sushi, Ambient Music and Trumpet

Another day, another dollar... or in my case no dollars... come on job!

Trumpet

----------

Since the recording my practise has become a bit slack and I am annoyed at that, I do have excuses, but they don't exactly get your practise back. Must focus, and get my books back from my wee bro and buy him a set! Can you believe an 11 year old Tuba player (EEb) does about 2 hours (sometimes 4) a night on Arbans, Collins, Caruso and all the other goodies I should be working on!? It is no surprise that his ability is sky-rocketing! I should probably rename this section 'Tuba', I have spoken more about Andy than myself! His range is impressive as well, from C# above double pedal C to top C at the starts of most days... puts me to shame! Anyhow, Trumpet can lead to some interesting gigs, see below...

Ambient Music

------------------

My friends Ricky Graham and John King asked me to come and take some pictures and sit in on their session at the Black Box last night, so I was game! Trumpet, harmon, Nikon, clothes (optional!). The music they play is interesting - looped lines, quite ambient, improvised and a heck of a lot of computer wizardry from the both of them! Ricky plays a guitar that I made him a few years back, recently I fitted some cool gizmos to it which facilitates the type of music which he now plays. A multi-phonic piezo system on each of the 7 strings and a sustainer pickup which allows for infinite (ok not infinite, it is battery powered) sustain with the choice of the pitch or the 2nd octave harmonic if I remember correctly. John takes these signals and works some jiggery pokery with it, so the 7 signals all break out into 7 outputs and then add a mono (normal magnetic pickup output) to this and you have a really neat instrument. You can pan all of the strings to anywhere, and as Ricky says, it is like a small orchestra!

Anyway, I was playing on the 2nd section on this, and we jammed it out in the day time. This was really new to me, I was uncomfortable at first because of my background in playing - mainly studying Jazz or trying to read Classical music. I used the harmon just to have a bit of a cut in the mix and not to dominate at the same time. It was a great experience, playing just really long chord tones, or working with small amount of pentatonics or in cases the leading tone. It gave the ears a bit of work, though we were in concert E (F# major for me) and the overall harmony was basically Emajor9, the usual Jazz clichés or lines would not fit! Anyway, I think it went fine, the guys played well, and I am going to Derry to play with them again tonight, see if I can't learn a bit more now! I will try to get those multiphonics working a bit better this time!

Sushi

-------

On the way home I grabbed some Sushi from late night Tescos. It was amazing! I do love Sushi! On the less classy side of life I bought 17 packs of 9 pence noodles, mainly Chicken flavour. Nice!

Time to go, the coffee is brewed and there is only 3 minutes of the morning left, calls to make, coffee to drink, practise to do!

Mike

I just remembered - I decided to practice my trumpet at the train station on the way home, very few people about, but those who were there thought I was mental. Also practising for an hour in the dark before the gig got a few looks :) I like playing in the dark, it is nice to cut out all the distractions and just relax.

Next, please!

Well I am still alive!

I had little studio time, but I did bootleg my own session to get a listen to what I did before the real tracks appear post mixing - and as a real backup, I am anal like this! I have only listened to the first few takes of Softly, As In a Morning's Sunrise, and the final take is decent, at least by my playing standards. My playing was more adventurous in the 2nd take, but I think more focused in the last.

Because of the way everything panned out (no pun), my sound engineer took a portable kit and we recorded in a local carpeted church hall - it has a nice reverb and had the space at the time we needed. I will admit to being rather stressed for about 2 weeks concerning everything that transpired today!

Being my first recording experience I was a bit nervous, and although some of what I have heard so far has been fine, for me, some hasn't worked as well as it did in practise. I find it hard to totally open up and really forget myself, when I do I play best. Anyway, for me, I am still reserved about my judgement, I am very much still a developing amateur, but I think for my first attempt it is ok (by my standards... compared to... well lets not go there!!!)

I was amazed at how insanely fast it all went by... this day although seemingly incredibly slow at first, shot by from about 2.20pm till bed, 12 hours later! Anyway, its done, an honest days work and what is will be (if that makes sense!!)

After recording I cooked a killer steak dinner and enjoyed a nice glass of South African Cabernet Sauvignon. Bit of a wind down! (I enjoy cooking you see). Peppered steaks, baked vine tomatos with brown sugar and pepper glaze (thanks to Dan MgEown's recipe!), Irish potatos, corns on the cob, caremalised red onion and too much garlic butter!

Mike

Clean valves, play MUSIC, phrase, develop!

I am recording tomorrow, and things have been hectic, but I think it is all in order and calming down. On the session we have:

Scott Flannigan (www.zcott.com) - Piano

Dan MgEown - Double Bass

James Anderson - Kit

Taking care of the audio is John King who is really keen to get this recording under way.

Ok, so the tracks, finally, are:

Footprints

Softly, As In a Morning's Sunrise

I Remember You

Killer Joe

Anyway, the title refers to my check list which has these reminders on the bottom; Clean valves! Play MUSIC! Phrase! Develop! These are things which are tantamount to success!

Clean valves:

My flugelhorn's 1st valve is somewhat unpredictable, even after 2 trips to the repair shop. It seems to be behaving itself right now. My trumpet is quite new and needs its valves cleaned regularly, hence that part of the title.

Play MUSIC:

Reminding myself not to forget what I am playing or trying to create; music, not a dirge of thoughtless notes. Lets hope this one pulls through! I have been practising and recording these tunes a'cappella if you will to try and improve my weaknesses, and while it is very humbling to hear your mistakes so clearly, it is a very useful tool! I realise an interesting thing; I was annoyed by an excess of air in my sound on a bunch of recordings and the answer was two-fold. 1) Microphone placement - right in front of the bell up close isn't ideal, I found placing the microphone at an angle beside the horn and in front gave the best results so far. 2) The more tired I got, the more air sound was present, and I was usually recording myself after 2 hours of hard work. That seems almost too common sense now that I write it!

Phrase:

Phrasing in the solo is one of the biggest things that I have been told to remember, and one of the best things that I appreciate in a solo; obviously a great solo will have it all going on, but this is elemental!

Develop:

Another thing of importance is development in solos. Again part of playing music, and phrasing! I'll leave that one there!

Not too much more to say. I only have 3 hours in the hall which is tight, but I reckon that will give us 2 hours of actual recording time which should be enough to get about 3 takes of each tune done if needs be, and maybe a little more; it depends on how long the solos end up being etc... I am just trying to be realistic. It will also look a little like a Nikon show room on account of 3 of us being keen photographers! Hopefully I will have a few shots of the process to include online at some stage!

Wish me luck!

Mike

Sleeping, testing, stressing.

Right, the title is a lie. I haven't really been sleeping, merely trying to! The testing and stressing go hand-in-hand, as does Music, Trumpet, practise and coffee. Coffee is usually in my hand, so it has a head-start!

I have made a microphone reflection filter, a little like this. (Cool, I still remember some html!) My deflector is not quite as glamorous, nor has it cost me a penny, so I think for now it will do. Pics to follow.

I made this because I might be recording in a reverby room - there is a shortage of studio space, and there is a Steinway grand in the room that might be the venue for recording - anyway, I am just being prepared, I have heard recordings destroyed by room reverb! Anyway, I am testing this with my CAD Trion 6000 Ribbon mic. This is perhaps what we will record the Trumpet with, though the final test will be with the engineer's mics and our ears! Ribbons have a way of very naturally rounding off the higher frequencies and creating a nice warm body of sound; perfect for horns. Anyway, regarding stressing, this is it. Getting the venue sorted! Deep breaths...

I have done over 30 different recording tests where I change placement, using the baffle and not, and it does help to vastly reduce the 'crap room' sound of my dining room. I chose the worst room in the house deliberately; it really let me hear the affect the baffle had. My results; close micing seems to give me the best results on both trumpet and flugel-horn - it cuts down the bad room sound, and due to the proximity effect that the ribbons inherently have, it warms the sound a little when closer, this is pleasing to me!

Recording, especially solo, is brutal. I have always tried to record some practise sessions, rehearsals etc... but I will be doing it much more because it is really exposing my faults. There are things that I play, and strangely have worked despite thinking 'oh, that won't come across well' and sadly there are times when I have thought 'that was pretty safe' and it came across like a turd; it is now time to find a balance between working and turd... I am getting all philosophical again!

I have my work cut out for the next couple of weeks, and I need to learn how to sleep all over again. I think something involving a sharp blow to the head will fix me. In any case, tomorrow should hopefully pan out to include:

Finish the baffle (some glueing to do, a mount to make).

Practise (scales, lines, chords, time).

Fill out forms, job applications.

Arrangements.

Record to backing tracks the tunes I am going to do in a couple of weeks, record several versions of each. Critique.

Brass band rehearsal (now, where is my Cornet... haha!).

I want to test recordings of the Curry 3TF mouthpiece VS. the 3BC I usually play. The TF is a very deep "V" shaped Trumpet mouthpiece (TF: Trumpet-Flugel - the Flugel cup is deep) whereas the BC is classed as hybrid-deep, more of a "U" profile. The implications are simple; the deeper and less "C" shaped the cup is, the fewer high harmonics are present in the sound which sounds "darker" or "mellower", the problem is that it can sound dull and lifeless. To get an idea of dark VS bright sound, it is easy; the opening top C in the Trumpet section in the Star Wars score, and indeed most of the brass is a bright sound. Also The Incredibles has a bright brass section, along with most movies come to think of it. A dark sound is equally easy to think of; Chet Baker and Miles Davis had famously mellow tones, Wynton Marsalis will also have often what I would class a dark sound, I say often because he varies it on some recordings and is brighter. Use your ears! Finally, the Curry Mouthpieces make life really easy, this may not mean much to a non-Trumpet player, but the rim is exactly the same between depths of mouthpiece cup from extremely shallow to extremely deep. This means that as the player, you can switch very easily and not have to adapt so much to a new rim and feel. It was about time someone did this for brass players, some have tried and come up short, Mark Curry hit the nail on the head! Really worth a look here!

I currently use a 3M for Big Band Jazz or general playing, a 3BC for the solo Jazz and for a bigger Classical sound and a 3TF for combo work and working the chops out! I have a 3B in the post (its cool when you can trade stuff) and plan to try the 3STAR or Z for really bright sounds and the 3TC because it is the one most people seem to rave about! On Flugel I play a 600 series Curry 70FLD. This is like the 3 size, but a cushioned rim, and an exceptionally (0.875") deep cup. I actually prefer the regular 3 rim, so the 70FLD will be swapped for a 3FLD or FL, though there is no great rush.

My personal sound concept is that of a darker tone, though this is only for Jazz, and combo work, working in a Big Band or Orchestra requires you to blend. That is another topic. My tests tomorrow will help me identify how the sound comes across in the recording, something which is paramount for me. I can cope with splits and the odd naff note, but if the tone isn't worth listening to, I will be unhappy! Currently the 3BC mouthpiece is helping me produce a fairly dark sound which isn't dead or lifeless, the fact that my sound is 'ok' on the tests is good because as a player you don't get a true representation of your sound because you are behind the bell of the instrument and so I worried that what I was practising and working on would end up sounding horrifyingly different when recorded. It didn't sound too different, attacks were a little breathier than I can hear from behind the bell which isn't necessarily a bad thing in Jazz, but for Classical I will need to tighten this up. More on this later, I have some wise words from other fantastic players which are well worth reproducing on-line.

Time to try and get a night's sleep!

Space, time, and arrangement.

Yes, another post. I am being artifically powered by Starbucks coffee, and taking advantage of the free refill on drip tap. Nice. So I am not really awake; most people know that is my style!

Space

------

Right now I am trying to get some studio space and time with an engineer. Organising this is proving harder than waking in the mornings! That's a lie, but with time constraints and being sort-of quite busy all the time it is just being a little slow. Maybe I will get through soon! I always have a few back-up plans, but they are the backups for a reason! Anyway... best of luck me.

Time

------

Sorting out time within arrangements is pretty crucial to the arrangement sounding musical. It is the same with a solo, this is something I am learning more and more and something which I think should be a huge focus for musicians. The importance of space and time within music. Hopefully I will have a lot of practise time to sort out my own head for the recordings, playing in the show is dominating, so I am feeling lazy for taking it easy during the days!

Arrangement

--------------

I am becoming increasinly interested in more thoroughly composed Jazz music. The typical lead-sheet form to tunes (AABA or whatever) is fine, but there is soo much space for more. There are a bunch of great modern players who have obviously become aware of this and are producing some fantastic music; Tom Harrell, Terrell Stafford, Kurt Rosenwinkel etc etc... so this is something I will be studying over time.

Regarding harmony, I am becoming more and more fond of clusters and secundal chords. Obviously these, as with dissonance and consconance, must be used in appropriate harmonic context. In any case, I really enjoy the resonance from clusters and seconds.

That is all for now. I should start working again!

Shows... what can happen.

As much as part of me wants to be objectionable and make the title of the post redundant and meaningless, I must not. More on how I feel the urge to be contrary and myself later.

I have really enjoyed playing the Wizard of Oz so far, it has been a very much reduced orchestra (8 piece), but the cast are fantastic! They are mainly young, and really putting everything into the shows and it makes it such a joy to play for; there is rarely this much connection in more professional shows! I am going to really enjoy my remaining 7 shows! There are elements of the show that still make me laugh even though we have rehearsed it and played it seemingly endlessly now! The dog, Toto (Rosie) is for lack of a better, more masculine word, very cute! I have little more to say, other than... the Wizard of Oz crashed. On Friday night. I don't think that was expected, nor did it ever happen before! There was some funny ad-libbing, and everyone found it very funny, crisis averted!! Pretty funny I thought!

Anyway, shows. What can happen?

You can expect to show up to do an Elvis tribute set, just like last years gig (which was awesome) and just be amazed... At how much better it was this year! I am not the biggest Elvis fan - this is a gig, so I am happy to play it for experience, money and fun, but it really was enjoyable! Score! Our charts weren't too bad (accuracy wise). The sight-reading was sweet, and I was generally fairly pleased with my sound and range (even though I was using ear-plugs, and I don't have a great range, but the sound was right). Most of the tunes ended with a top B or D, which was nailed, and I was happy about that - last year I was more nervous and lacked the experience to stick with my notes. This year was much better, more relaxed, better sound and what always helps - better gear. Gear which is going to stick by me!

Basically - you can turn up to a gig which you expect to probably be dodgy, and it turn out to be a real winner! I am really pleased that this was a winner - I need to take away all the positive feeling as much as possible. It is very hard to grow as a player if you leave depressed by some aspect of the performance. Tomorrow; The Wizard, and hopefully all of his top D/Cs in tune :)

Finally, I have an intro/arrangement for Footprints done, I must run this by the band and see if they like it. I might use this on the demo, providing it all suits the tune and performers, as with everything, it doesn't have to be used!

Mike

Dorothy, Footprints and Skirting

Good title. Poor content. Story of my life! Actually I decided that a story of my life would be called "Operational but at risk!". That sums up my Trumpet playing, it really does!

Dorothy

-----------

My music arrived this morning (The Wizard of Oz) at about 10am or so, and after going to bed at 6.30am I thought it was wise to get up and learn the show. The first thing that hit me was "there is an awful lot of music here", and there is, about 60 tunes or so. The parts are really nice, from the Royal Shakespeare Company, but it has a bit of a demand on endurance. It should be o.k. I hope! My schedule is quite busy for this now;

Wed - Rehearsal, Sound check - 5.30 - 9pm

Thurs - Rehearsal - 12pm, Show 7.30pm

Friday - Show - 3.30pm, Show - 7.30pm (I think)

Sat - Show - 7.30pm, Elvis Show, Empire @ 9pm (TBC) - can maybe do both, in any case, I have permission to miss this production if needs be.

Sunday - Show - 5.30pm

Monday to Saturday - Shows at 7.30pm, perhaps with a matinée performance on the Friday as well.

Saturday 15th also has me out with my brass band (3rd Carrickfergus Silver) - I hope that my times don't clash, and secondly that my lips hold out!

Footprints

-----------

I have chosen the set for the demo recording:

Stella By Starlight

Footprints

I Remember You

Killer Joe

I spent last night, from 10pm to 5am agonising over the tracks, specifically the ballad; each ballad I chose, I liked initially then I decided that it was a bit cliché and started to dislike it. I liked 'Infant Eyes' - lovely harmony, but the form is odd - three 9 bar phrases, that is fine, and the melody is a little boring. I also liked 'Naima', lovely harmony, quite dissonant, but it seemed a bit too much for the demo, probably wouldn't have sat nicely. I am going to play 'I Remember You' as a ballad, probably on the Flugelhorn, and hopefully sans fromage!

There is a nice arrangement of Stella on an Aebersold volume "Tunes You Thought You Knew" - it has been re-arranged and re-harmonised. I wouldn't mind doing this, it is cool, and is a bit different. It is such a classic tune though, I would hate to ruin it.

Skirting

-----------

Touch-up gloss painting on the skirting boards in the front room is all that remains in there - I got the emulsion painting done yesterday, floor cleaned, tables asembled, life pondered etc... My highlight was lifting the washer/dryer in from the rain (under a tarpaulin), up a step and fitting it. It was very heavy. I did not enjoy that.

That is all for now, paint to do, lips to mourn... practising till 6am will leave you with a fairly un-fresh start as I just found. I have band to do in 2 hours, and I have put in a serious bit of practise today... here goes nothing. Maybe I will play more quietly tonight, maybe take it easy!

Mike

Wizard and House

Is the title exciting? No? Okay...

A project which has been underway since February has been the restoration of a fairly dishevelled house, and it is really near completion! Very cool for me because I will be residing dans this house. Two tables were purchased at very little expense from IKEA yesterday (sale) and I constructed these this morning. One of their diagrams was wrong, so that slowed progress on number 1. Time was made up by using a drill instead of a screwdriver which is exactly what they said not to do... I know what I am doing... cheating! And it felt good :)

Aim: front room completed today. Likeliness: 4/10, maybe 6/10 if I lay off the Trumpet (and interwebstubes)!

I will be playing in a production of "The Wizard of Oz" running from the 6th to the 15th. This is good - I need money to fund my demo recording. Things are slowly falling into place (and some falling over. That is to be expected!). I should get my parts by the 5th at the latest, this will let me know whether I need to go to anything more than the dress rehearsal... hopefully not! One of the arrangers did say that he re-organised parts and Sibelius told him that he had gone out of the range of the Trumpet and that I should modify my parts to suit... place bets now; Violin writing? Bagpipe writing?? Oh, lawds!

Some projects, some nonesense!

How to start a post to an anonymous cloud of internet users? I might just fling myself at it much like a large mountain lion might fling itself at a snowy owl were said owl giving away the keys to a Ferarri 360... or something.

I planning to record a short demo at the end of this month (all being well) where I will be playing Trumpet on a couple of standards with the intentions of using this as promotional material. I have not yet chosen my tracks, though I have several ideas and will be putting in some serious practise time!

When the tracks are done I will be able to use this on Linley Hamilton's radio show, which will be really neat. Hopefully they don't scare people away from my gig on the 30th September (Merville House, Time and Price TBA.). The set for Merville is chosen, you can expect a bunch of standards and hopefully some good jazz!

Recently I have been really liking the tune "Footprints" by Wayne Shorter. I would like to arrange this at some stage.

I have no more to say really, time to go much like a large mountain lion would... oh... I did that one. Gotta think up some more funnies... Nevermind!

Mike

The start

This is my first proper attempt at an online blog with which I hope to perpetrate my thoughts, activity and music. This entry shall be short and sweet; it is only to advise that I am alive, and to encourage me to post and hide this otherwise useless opening. Ciao!