Amazon Artist Central

Hey all, Amazon Artist Central got me off my butt with some music stuff. I haven't released anything new, but I wanted to establish myself in this cool site.
https://artistcentral.amazon.com/

Hey I'm stoked I have a Kindle Fire on the way. Amazon Rewards + no tax + free shipping = FREE FIRE!!!

Got a Gig...

A friend of mine has been performing at his local Hermosa Beach church/school Fiesta for the past few years. As his lead guitarist decided to bow out this year, I was asked to fill in. After mulling over the set list, I agreed to join, and added a few of my own favorites (Mr. Crowley is alive and well!!)

The date will be Saturday, April 26, probably in the 7:00 or 8:30pm time slot. Here are the details:
http://www.ourladyofguadalupeschool.org/Pages/Fiesta.html

We are called "Roberto Parkalotti and that 70's Band", even though we do play some 80's stuff as well!! The set will be somewhat eclectic, with stuff from Ozzy, Sabbath, Rainbow, Zeppelin, Stones, Def Leppard as well as pop masterpieces from Sweet, Bruce Springsteen, and even a couple of Partridge Family tunes!! Rehearsals have been sparse, so expect alot of loose playing, some improvisation, and a few extended solos. We do hope to share some great Rock'n'Roll and bring a spirit of high-energy fun to all who attend. Most of all, we wish the school a highly successful fund raising event!!

P.S. I did get acquire a used Demonizer peadal, but it gave up the ghost in rather short order. I haven't had time to try to resurrect it, but the tone was too strictly nu-metal for my taste...which is to say it sounded brain-melting, but just lacked warmth and versatility.

Cheers!
ACN

Been Awhile!

Given my lack of progress on new material, I decided to post "Continuitae" on the download.com site for streaming:

http://music.download.com/acnakagawa

For those of you to whom I did not distribute this song via email, I hope you get some good vibes!!

Yes, the "next" album will still take some time to complete. I am, however, piecing together a new stomp-box based recording rig to try to get my creativity going again. Here's what I have in mind:

Wah Pedal (undecided on type)

MXR EVH Phase 90

MXR EVH Flanger

Damage Control Demonizer

Marshall Echohead

Marshall Reflector

Hey all of you with computer-based recording setups...try the free download of Guitar Rig 3 by Native Instruments. It's fun to play around with, but in the end, I was not quite inspired by the sound. The Dimebag, Brian May, and U2 presets are pretty damn cool though (especially the Dime - what a squeal!!)

On a non-muical note (pun intended), I have been hitting the gym quite a bit lately, as I have gotten tired of being sidelined in cycling and surfing by nature's whims. It's been a few months since I've paddled out...definitely got to get that going again!!

Rock On,

ACN

Continuitae

Hey out there!! I finally finished up the first song of the next album, entitling it Continuitae, which rather reminds one of Cartman's vocal inflections ;). Despite the feedback I had received during several phases of its development exclaiming that it had already reached a state of perfection, I did not quit until I was genuinely satisfied with the final product (which is about 95% of the perfection I hear in my head). From the date of the last post, it seems that over a month has passed since the song's genesis. At this rate, the album might be entitled....ummm...2112??? (heheh)

I will forward some of you an mp3 of the tune...I hope you aren't all too shocked by the stylistic deviation. Hey, it's all good...right???!!!!

Also, a shout-out goes to those who recently purchased a Meandering Tides CD. THANK YOU!!

OK, here's some nerd stuff. The guitar parts were all cut with the PRS using the primordial digital technology of the Boss GT-5, using my "Rooster" (left), "Chitlinz" (right), and "Cap'n Crunch" (lead) patches. The lead guitar was processed in Sonar with a compressor going into a new sofware toy called Vintage Channel. I used the "liquid" setting, slightly modified, to give it that sweet glowing tone. The bass was once again pumped through Amplitube with some EQ, which was again sufficient, but not outstanding. Of course, given my lack of timing in the bass area, I didn't want a standout tone anyway!! Next time, I will play with another new software feature called "Audiosnap" that should help correct some of the timing. The synth parts were performed with the Dimension sampling software synth set to a Rhodes/Strings patch...nice and jazzy. I really tried to capture the essence of "melancholy" with this song, especially by playing behind the pocket with the keyboards. Of course, my fat-fingered keyboard entries were time and velocity corrected using the mouse. Haha, the mouse is my best instrument ;). The drum sound is new also new (Session Drummer 2). The drum patch and groove I came up with basically inspired the entire song, as is often the case. The jazzy sounding drums are modernized by detuning the kick drum. It's provides quite the "kick" the song needs, if I do say so myself!!

Anyway, as usual, I hope the song makes your day just a leeettle bit better....

ACN

Recording in Progress....

My recent upgrade to Cakewalk Sonar 6 has given me the push to start writing/recording again. My latest song (working title "Continuity") has a Latin jazz flavor which was inspired by the drum sounds provided in Session Drummer 2 (part of the Sonar 6 package). The PRS guitar is sounding good in this application, and I am having fun woking on interesting chord voicings and lead melodies. So far, this piece is sort of an intro. I hope to develop it into a full song...we shall see how the journey of musical discovery continues...

The Mob Rules

For those of you who think I have abandoned my metal roots, fear not, as I had the priviledge of witnessing a killer show with Heaven and Hell (Dio reuinted with Black Sabbath) and Megadeth as the opener. Dio's voice is perhaps just slightly less forceful than it used to be, but is still in in fine form and emotionally charged as ever. The guitar playing and tone were spot-on (heavy!!), and Geezer's bass playing was extraordinary. Vinny Appice's drumming, while lacking finesse, had the force of cannon shots going off. Standout songs included "Children of the Sea", "Die Young", and my favorite off of the excellent Dehumanizer album, a song simply entitled "I". (I love the lyrics to that one!!)

Megadeth had the large Forum crowd really pumped up, ripping through the classics with relentless force and precision. Dave Mustaine was in good shape physically as well as musically, and the band really delivered.

I must mention one more aspect...namely the crowd. The arena setting with the open floor was like the old days and really triggered some good memories. One noteable exception was that with this older crowd, there was a lot less pushing and shoving going on, and people were really open and cool. Of course, the air was thick with "smoke" as well.

I need to do this more often...

Theme from "A Summer Place"

I have not created any new music lately, but I did put together an arrangement of Theme from A Summer Place for a friend's wedding. They used it during the cake cutting, and it was quite a smash (in a good way). I have sent a copy out to most of you, so please enjoy. The entire song was cut with the PRS guitar with custom pickups. Of course, I had to rock it out a bit at the end, but I managed to keep it civilized. Amazingly, the arrangement appealed to the older and younger crowd equally!

On the equipment front, I ordered a couple of 1x12 cabinets from Lopoline.com. I'll try to post some pics soon. The idea is to be able have a good jammin' rig that can still fit into one of my li'l sports cars. I am using a Crate Powerblock as a power amp. Since the cabs are loaded with Celestions (Vintage 30's), the GT-5 patches that use Fender amp/cabinet emulations needed quite a bit of tweaking to get to a decent sound. I'm still not quite happy with some of the tones, but I'm mostly a recording musician anyway. The Marshall based tones rock though!! The Crate is powerful, but I had to work around a design idiosyncracy in that the CD inputs must be used to bypass the cabinet emulator when using it as a power amp.

The PRS has enabled my picking technique to move forward. Somehow, the Strat that I was playing for a number of years was giving me wrist problems, and I could never quite adapt to the bridge/string/body geometry. I still have some wrist problems, but not nearly as bad. Also, I just bought a new bike (Novara Strada) with greatly improved ergonomics over my last one, so I'm hoping that will benefit as well.

Hopefully, this new recording will get me to produce some new originals...wow, I actually remembered how to use Cakewalk Sonar after a layoff of several months ;)

Stay tuned, take care, and keep on rockin'