Track #7
A big "THANK YOU" goes out to all of those who purchased CDs! I'm currently trying to get my music played on www.radioparadise.com . The tracks I submitted are being reviewed, however, it will be tough to get approved, as they are quite picky about their playlist.
Now, on to the mighty Track #7, entitled "Offshores". This was the last I created for the album. I had about 35 minutes of material, and I was aiming for at least 40 (about the length of an old Van Halen album, haha). I had zero ideas floating about, and the project was dragging on. Soooo, I was desperate for a good riff!! I needed that stupid song that was written in 5 minutes that turns out to be a hit single!
I was noodling around and finally came up with a good nugget (not a butt-nugget) that inspired the rest of the chord progression. A lot of it is typical of what I do when I improvise, but then tend to forget about and never record. The rhythm part with the "chugs" are done in drop-D tuning (think "Unchained" or "Lack of Communication"). I used standard tuning for the other parts, as the guitar was not setup well for drop-D and did not play cleanly. The last part I came up with was the intro, which is reprised near the end. It's a really simple ascending pattern, but it is interesting because of the time signature. The trippy part at the end is like drifting off to sleep at the end of the day!!
I tried out some effects on the lead guitar to differentiate this song from the rest. I used a delay (software effect) to produce the echo, and EQ'd the echo so only the mids would come through. I was trying to copy a vocal effect from the bridge section in "Get Him Back" by Fiona Apple that is kind of trippy (her and the song). The guitar line after the intro was inspired by an old Scorpions song called "In Your Park" (off of the "Virgin Killer" album with the great Ulrich Roth on lead guitar) where the meldoy jumps octaves. I keep thinking I'm going to stumble across a Vai or Satch song that I had forgotten about and find out that I completely ripped off the lead melody, because, yes, a lot of it conjures up other artists' styles. I rushed the final mix of this tune, but I guess it turned out to be a good thing because it does stand out in the album with a signature sort of sound. Well, it took a lot longer than 5 minutes to write, but it is the closest thing that I have to a single. I had all of the songs downloadable for free on www.download.com for a while, and indeed, "Offshores" was the the most popular of the bunch!
Also, special thanks goes out to Vince S. for the excellent feedback (quoted without permission, hehe):
"Hey bro - sorry, I meant to send you some additional feedback a while back, but I've been pretty much overwhelmed lately and it slipped my mind. I wanted to let you know that I had finally had a chance to listen to all of the final product. I had still been listening to the demo version you had originally given me (because it's burned onto my system at work) so I hadn't heard the additional track you had added to the album: Track 7, (Offshores). Dude, that track is AWESOME. I liked the whole album, very calming and easy to listen to, and like I had told you before, it sounds almost like you're just playing around and having a good time, like a kid with a new toy he wants to share with everyone. It's very relaxing, and conjures visions of tubes of glassy blue-green. But track 7 really does stand out. It is amazing. I finally remembered to take the final version of the album for a trip to Palm Springs (it was all work, no play; I go thru a lot of music nowadays with the mileage I'm putting on my car), and had played the first six tacks. Then, this song came on. It was almost like the rest of the album was sort of a warm-up, and now you were taking off the gloves and getting serious. Like you had been personally challenged by Satch, and you set out to teach him a lesson. It has a different feel from the rest of the album, maybe darker, a little more serious, definitely heavier. It really has an epic kind of a quality to it. I don't know how to explain it, but it sounds like you recorded it differently from whatever you did with the rest of the album. More of a live show/live band feel, a little more polished. While the rest of the album conjured visions of surfing, with this song, you could picture a whole day in the water. The intro reminded me of getting tubed right at daybreak. The rest of the song felt almost like a progression of the entire day. Anyhow, I think I could go on for awhile, but hopefully you get the point. The album rocks, and that song seriously kills. Remember, let me know if you want to play any of that stuff live for any reason. And if you ever, EVER, want to play that song live, and can't find a decent bass player, and will settle for a crappy noob, let me know. If you don't mind, I'm gonna try to learn it. Anyhow, congratulations again on a killer album. Keep 'em coming -- and then let the touring commence... Almost forgot to mention about how I could hear Rush, Satch, EVH, and maybe even some Vai, all in one song."
Now, on to the mighty Track #7, entitled "Offshores". This was the last I created for the album. I had about 35 minutes of material, and I was aiming for at least 40 (about the length of an old Van Halen album, haha). I had zero ideas floating about, and the project was dragging on. Soooo, I was desperate for a good riff!! I needed that stupid song that was written in 5 minutes that turns out to be a hit single!
I was noodling around and finally came up with a good nugget (not a butt-nugget) that inspired the rest of the chord progression. A lot of it is typical of what I do when I improvise, but then tend to forget about and never record. The rhythm part with the "chugs" are done in drop-D tuning (think "Unchained" or "Lack of Communication"). I used standard tuning for the other parts, as the guitar was not setup well for drop-D and did not play cleanly. The last part I came up with was the intro, which is reprised near the end. It's a really simple ascending pattern, but it is interesting because of the time signature. The trippy part at the end is like drifting off to sleep at the end of the day!!
I tried out some effects on the lead guitar to differentiate this song from the rest. I used a delay (software effect) to produce the echo, and EQ'd the echo so only the mids would come through. I was trying to copy a vocal effect from the bridge section in "Get Him Back" by Fiona Apple that is kind of trippy (her and the song). The guitar line after the intro was inspired by an old Scorpions song called "In Your Park" (off of the "Virgin Killer" album with the great Ulrich Roth on lead guitar) where the meldoy jumps octaves. I keep thinking I'm going to stumble across a Vai or Satch song that I had forgotten about and find out that I completely ripped off the lead melody, because, yes, a lot of it conjures up other artists' styles. I rushed the final mix of this tune, but I guess it turned out to be a good thing because it does stand out in the album with a signature sort of sound. Well, it took a lot longer than 5 minutes to write, but it is the closest thing that I have to a single. I had all of the songs downloadable for free on www.download.com for a while, and indeed, "Offshores" was the the most popular of the bunch!
Also, special thanks goes out to Vince S. for the excellent feedback (quoted without permission, hehe):
"Hey bro - sorry, I meant to send you some additional feedback a while back, but I've been pretty much overwhelmed lately and it slipped my mind. I wanted to let you know that I had finally had a chance to listen to all of the final product. I had still been listening to the demo version you had originally given me (because it's burned onto my system at work) so I hadn't heard the additional track you had added to the album: Track 7, (Offshores). Dude, that track is AWESOME. I liked the whole album, very calming and easy to listen to, and like I had told you before, it sounds almost like you're just playing around and having a good time, like a kid with a new toy he wants to share with everyone. It's very relaxing, and conjures visions of tubes of glassy blue-green. But track 7 really does stand out. It is amazing. I finally remembered to take the final version of the album for a trip to Palm Springs (it was all work, no play; I go thru a lot of music nowadays with the mileage I'm putting on my car), and had played the first six tacks. Then, this song came on. It was almost like the rest of the album was sort of a warm-up, and now you were taking off the gloves and getting serious. Like you had been personally challenged by Satch, and you set out to teach him a lesson. It has a different feel from the rest of the album, maybe darker, a little more serious, definitely heavier. It really has an epic kind of a quality to it. I don't know how to explain it, but it sounds like you recorded it differently from whatever you did with the rest of the album. More of a live show/live band feel, a little more polished. While the rest of the album conjured visions of surfing, with this song, you could picture a whole day in the water. The intro reminded me of getting tubed right at daybreak. The rest of the song felt almost like a progression of the entire day. Anyhow, I think I could go on for awhile, but hopefully you get the point. The album rocks, and that song seriously kills. Remember, let me know if you want to play any of that stuff live for any reason. And if you ever, EVER, want to play that song live, and can't find a decent bass player, and will settle for a crappy noob, let me know. If you don't mind, I'm gonna try to learn it. Anyhow, congratulations again on a killer album. Keep 'em coming -- and then let the touring commence... Almost forgot to mention about how I could hear Rush, Satch, EVH, and maybe even some Vai, all in one song."
posted by acnakagawa at 9:48 PM
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bass 20years exp.showman
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