Post by Cams on Jan 19, 2018 23:44:30 GMT
Both my bands imploded at the end of last year - I had too many eggs in one basket, a husband and wife couple in both bands and they broke up. Oops. So now I'm playing solo and it's going pretty well. Here's a report on my looping progress, in case anyone's interested.
Some of you may remember that I posted in the last quarter of the 2017 that I'd got a Boss RC-300 Loop Station, the big one with three loop channels and an FX pedal? Well, I've been practising with it a lot and it's a fantastic device. I began gigging with it not long after it came, doing a basic kick drum sound by thumping the bridge, then recording rhythm guitar and using that to solo over. I had two tunes and two songs worked out in the first few weeks, but since the Christmas holidays I've been working on a lot more, adding more percussion and relaxing more. One of the changes in mindset is letting go of the idea that I have to play guitar the whole time at a gig. I was recording rhythm, stopping it and then starting it only when I wanted to take a solo break, but I can keep the rhythm going and sing over it, maybe doubling up the rhythm by playing different chord voicings or adding licks and fills. Once I got my head around that, my arrangements started sounding way more interesting. In some songs, I've began to record rhythm, sing over it then stop the rhythm for a section and sing over the percussion.
Tonight was the first time I'd taken my tambourine, claves and shaky egg, and also hooked up my Apollo Twin and laptop for effects through the UAD Console - that's some powerful stuff right there, letting me use plugins live with no discernible latency. My live sound has never been so good.
A new song I've added is Perfect, by The The. I've known the song for years, but on its own with acoustic guitar it's as dull as ditchwater - three chords and the truth, which is fine, but with little opportunity for variation through the song, it gets rather long and tedious. Now I've got the percussion looped -- it has a very recognizable drum pattern -- and I'm using a plugin to give me a lower octave to get a good kick drum sound and to play a bass riff. Now I've got a rhythm section, so with judicious use of delay on the loop station's effects pedal and the rhythm section, the song really comes to life.
What I'm finding is that, by being relaxed and practising a lot at home, I'm beginning to get creative with lead breaks and there's a definite voice there that feels like my own. Up till now, I've been playing with the bands and learning parts and never deviating. I think it might be because I'm jamming with myself, or it could just be that I'm practising a lot. I can't say for sure why I'm beginning to recognise my own progress, but I'm enjoying it. Tonight I didn't have the fear that I've had each time I've played solo and I'm really beginning to enjoy the experimenting and sound I'm getting.
I hope that this is just the beginning as I learn more about how to use effects, how to relax and play what I feel like playing in the moment. I want the loop station not to seem like a gimmick and what my performance is about, and so far so good.
I have my wife to thank for the whole looping thing as it was she who suggested it in the first place, being a fan of KT Tunstall as she is. The next song I want to learn is Werewolves of London - I think that would work great with the looping. Ah-ooooooo!
Some of you may remember that I posted in the last quarter of the 2017 that I'd got a Boss RC-300 Loop Station, the big one with three loop channels and an FX pedal? Well, I've been practising with it a lot and it's a fantastic device. I began gigging with it not long after it came, doing a basic kick drum sound by thumping the bridge, then recording rhythm guitar and using that to solo over. I had two tunes and two songs worked out in the first few weeks, but since the Christmas holidays I've been working on a lot more, adding more percussion and relaxing more. One of the changes in mindset is letting go of the idea that I have to play guitar the whole time at a gig. I was recording rhythm, stopping it and then starting it only when I wanted to take a solo break, but I can keep the rhythm going and sing over it, maybe doubling up the rhythm by playing different chord voicings or adding licks and fills. Once I got my head around that, my arrangements started sounding way more interesting. In some songs, I've began to record rhythm, sing over it then stop the rhythm for a section and sing over the percussion.
Tonight was the first time I'd taken my tambourine, claves and shaky egg, and also hooked up my Apollo Twin and laptop for effects through the UAD Console - that's some powerful stuff right there, letting me use plugins live with no discernible latency. My live sound has never been so good.
A new song I've added is Perfect, by The The. I've known the song for years, but on its own with acoustic guitar it's as dull as ditchwater - three chords and the truth, which is fine, but with little opportunity for variation through the song, it gets rather long and tedious. Now I've got the percussion looped -- it has a very recognizable drum pattern -- and I'm using a plugin to give me a lower octave to get a good kick drum sound and to play a bass riff. Now I've got a rhythm section, so with judicious use of delay on the loop station's effects pedal and the rhythm section, the song really comes to life.
What I'm finding is that, by being relaxed and practising a lot at home, I'm beginning to get creative with lead breaks and there's a definite voice there that feels like my own. Up till now, I've been playing with the bands and learning parts and never deviating. I think it might be because I'm jamming with myself, or it could just be that I'm practising a lot. I can't say for sure why I'm beginning to recognise my own progress, but I'm enjoying it. Tonight I didn't have the fear that I've had each time I've played solo and I'm really beginning to enjoy the experimenting and sound I'm getting.
I hope that this is just the beginning as I learn more about how to use effects, how to relax and play what I feel like playing in the moment. I want the loop station not to seem like a gimmick and what my performance is about, and so far so good.
I have my wife to thank for the whole looping thing as it was she who suggested it in the first place, being a fan of KT Tunstall as she is. The next song I want to learn is Werewolves of London - I think that would work great with the looping. Ah-ooooooo!