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February 27, 2008
Every so often I get to splurge on new toys. I made a trip to Drums Etc.
here in Lancaster today, just to look for some things to make shaker noises with.
Music stores are a hoot. A kid came in, asking what kind of tamborines they had. Well,
they've got about 50 different tamborines there, so it wasn't a problem. He wanted one
with a skin head on it, so he could beat on that "with the band," he said. Makes sense
to me.
But sadly, like the song says, How much does it cost?, and he was about ten
bucks shy. Man, I wish I could have given him the money- he was so enthusiastic about
a stinkin' tamborine!
Anyway, I found these items here- some shaker things, and a "laptop" snare. Dave with the
Gadjo Playboys has one of these and I've wanted one since I heard him play it. Now
I'm able to go sit in with acoustic players and not drive 'em nuts with loud drums.
Oh yeah, a new mix of Faith with new shaky things on it. Accordion too, but
you'll never know it, it's so far back in the mix. Makes me happy, though, sort of like that kid
with his tamborine fixation.
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February 25, 2008
If you're new here you may be somewhat shocked to learn that I've been continuing
to work on the song Faith. I don't have a record company demanding releases, but
when I come up with something I like I tend to share it as soon as it's close to
listenable.
There were parts of the vocal I didn't much like, and while I was fixing them I
found a better eq for the rhythm guitar and so on. Really, when you have the
studio in your basement, a song is never actually finished- unless some disaster
strikes and you can't work on it any more.
Today, a new version of Faith. Much, much better. New vocals, a 12 string guitar...
and really, the ending is more "hair-standing-up" then before.
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February 23, 2008
I let that door swing open this week and here's what danced through- kinda bleak, but
then it's been bad news lately for some people I know.
Dark music like this has always drawn me. I can play a major scale but
when I do a "happy" song it's usually goofy. No, I like the way some bands dig into
the gloom and pull something out that's reassuring, somehow.
So, like a cross between Neal Young and Radiohead, here's Faith.
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February 20, 2008
I'm always looking for ways to promote the studio. Today I went first to WFMU,
an online radio station just weird enough to enjoy Never At A Loss For Words (I think). I
wrote to the program director there, but I'm sure he gets a lot of mail. Hey, send in
a request, it can't hurt!
After that I started looking for some new mp3 review sites. As always there's plenty of these
out there- see this list at The Hype Machine! So
I start through them, one at a time. Of course the trouble is, mostly the online reviewers are
hip young things, and they are mostly interested in hip young bands, not hip older
folks like we feature here. Still, I believe I will find at least one review site that
isn't totally preoccupied with being trendy and knowingly obscure. Someday.
Ahh, but my search has already led me to an interesting music site- The Music Snob.
The Music Snob is a WIKI, which means that users can edit the entries. You'll find
my entry for Steam Powered Studio here. I'm
looking forward to comments and edits there- those of you who aren't scared of computers may try your hand.
They generally list "pros" and "cons" for the listed site, so have fun!
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February 17, 2008
I had completely forgotten about this one. I listened back to a mix from October
2006 and I knew it could be much better. I'm not even sure if I "officially" released
this one at that time- I doubt it.
Whatever- here today for your listening pleasure, a new mix of a rather odd sort of composition I call
Never At A Loss For Words. It's probably largely inspired by the Joe Ellis
stuff I was recording back then. It's based on some piano improv, with stuff added for flavor.
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February 11, 2008
The featured song this week is a good one for Valentine's. It's from the Speedboys' gig
at the Pequea Inn, and it's one of those songs they did live that night that I think tops their
version on record.
I'm looking for any pictures of the Pequea from back in the day. Let me know if you've got some, please,
and I'll post them here.
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February 07, 2008
Here's that classic band now- the Speedboys. They played around here from the late
1970's into the mid '80's, released two albums (to good reviews) and kept us kids dancin'
in joints like The Pequea Inn.
I was given some reel to reel tapes the other day by singer Robert Bobby that
were recorded at a gig at the Pequea sometime late in the band's career. He hadn't been
able to listen to them (who among us has reel to reel players any more?) and
we were pleasantly suprised with the quality of both the recording and playing.
There were one or two issues with the recordings that I've been able to correct
so I'll be featuring tunes from that evening from time to time. I'm keeping the
in between song chatter, so listen close (and bring your fifth). I haven't found any photos
of the bar- you'll have to picture an old frame building near a railroad line by a river.
You can find some videos of The Speedboys on YouTube.
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February 04, 2008
Well, that was just super, wasn't it? Here at Steam Powered it's Super Monday because
we got yet another sponsor. So let that dial spin, Joe!
I was earning my keep yesterday during the game, transferring a full night's gig from reel to reel
tape to digital. The gig was from a classic local band at a classic local venue, and I hope
to release some of those classic tunes locally. Tonight I'm cleaning up some clicks
on these recordings, which otherwise sound exceptionally good considering their age.
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February 03, 2008
A new month, fresh sheets. (eeeww, that doesn't sound so good, does it?)
What I mean is that the last month goes into an archive (like it really matters) so
that this page doesn't take so long to load. After 6 months or so things get pretty
unwieldy. So look for the "archives" links over on the right if you feel you've
missed anything.
The Spons-O-Meter shows another bump. It really does go to 11, if you look
close. Once we get past that we'll have to repaint the dial. Anyway, thanks Scott!
We'll start the world's shortest month featuring a song by Willie Marble, one
called Evil. Willie and his friends are doing some great work for the community,
raising funds and musical awareness with Music For Everyone.
Check it out.
Finally, there's a change in my studio photo, below. Yes, those were better times for us. I'm
honoring a band from way back with my caption here- maybe you know who? Maybe you've got a better caption?
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Featured Song:
#249
Jeff Coleman
Faith
mp3
or
ogg
4:10
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Spons-O-Meter
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Support the Studio via:
Or write us for other arrangements...
Steampowered
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Studio Archives:
January, 2008
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