4 new tracks

These are recordings from a rehearsal session. Basically the 1st time through most of these tracks. I enjoyed myself, I enjoyed playing the music and to me the recording says that I should work towards a bigger goal. The playing is very much of a sightreading nature; you can forgive the blips therein.

Exile:

http://www.box.net/shared/94c4xsksb9

Nightshade:

http://www.box.net/shared/rtu9gdxfol

Solanum:

http://www.box.net/shared/0yigavk3rz

Dawn:

http://www.box.net/shared/duh6apxi0f

Adios!

A quick recording

Another music related instalment - but only to be succeeded by many building related instalments...

My friend Jeremy asked me to throw down a quick old style blues, like 1930's era so I wrote a head chart with some horns to simulate a small big band. I say simulate because I don't play reeds, so I used a marching baritone for bass trombone and tenor trombone sounds, flugel for top trom, 3 trumpets and melody doubled on cup muted trumpet and harmon mute (no stem). I haven't worked out my "drummer"... that all time favourite joke pops to mind:

What's the difference between a drummer and a drum machine?

You only have to punch the rhythms in once on a drum machine!

There are too many... onwards...

The recording itself is OK - I am happy for what it is, but since I don't play the baritone horn often I find it hard to keep in tune, furthermore, this is basically the take of the 2nd read through. The playing is deliberately in an older style but I still need to shed the blues big time! Well, here she is; "Blues for Jeremy":

http://www.box.net/shared/8yr51b1fx4

I got to use my new Rode NT2A mic - really beautiful. Multi-pattern, high SPL capability, ultra low noise design, large capsule. On the trumpet it sounds super smooth if you roll off a little around 8k - there is a peak here, I roll off from about 6k onwards, and maybe 1/2dB boost across the 100-1000Khz range for a little more body. I am going to have some fun recording more with these - I will post about this later!

Should anyone want the chart, I can send a PDF if you like... you probably have no need :)

I am taking a day away from the guitars - I am seriously wrecked, so I will just make mistakes! Back to that tomorrow, and perhaps a post outlining my newest work. I am now building 7 instruments... lots to do!

Blessings,

Mike

A little playing

I realise that my blog is often about everything bar music. I suppose building guitars is related, but whatever. Over the past while I have...

In no particular order...

Recorded a couple of tunes for Rory O'Connor and Amy McGarrigle (links later):

My gear:

Recorded a CD with the KJJO (Ken Jordan Jazz Orchestra):

Played a 2 week production of Sweeney Todd at the Millside Theatre (I really miss this, I would have loved to have done another month. Loved every night!!) Peter Corry and Nuala McKeever as Sweeney and Mrs Lovett.

Sorry for stealing your photos, Kate, I was playing and didn't have time to snap any...

Actually I did... final show, standing ovation, sold out. Excellent!

Lovely building!

Recorded with Ricky Graham and John King "Signals Under Test":

I played with them on a couple of gigs, 1 in the Black Box:

KJJO Gig, Errigle Inn:

I have to start writing more music, making more time for that and trying to get an average of 1-2 hours of un-productive practice a day into 2 hours of solid grind. Linear patterns won't learn themselves. Fact.

Night!

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

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!

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