Most beginner guitarists start by learning the same fifteen chords, usually called the “standard fifteen.” I’ve also heard them called the open chords because they make use of open strings and are thus easy to play. For fingerings, have a look at wikipedia or any book on beginner guitar. You can also see this handy [...]
A big part of what makes the blues sound like the blues is blue notes. Most other American vernacular music uses blue notes too: jazz, funk, rock, country, gospel, folk and so on. In the video below, John Lee Hooker hits a blue note in just about every single guitar phrase. For such a foundational [...]
This weekend my electronica band Revival Revival is doing some shows for the first time in many months. We’ll be doing a lot of what my non-electronic-musician friends consider to be cheating. The lead vocals and guitar will be live, as will some of the synths. Everything else will be canned, recordings played back from [...]
Filed in autobio, hardware, music, software
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Also tagged authenticity, electronica, improvisation, lionel richie, michael jackson, midi, miles davis, pop, pro tools, reason, remixes, revival revival, songwriting
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In keeping with my posts thinking of the Beatles and Jimi Hendrix as electronic musicians, I thought I’d round out the techno-hippie trifecta with the Dead. Their fans might lean to the crunchy granola side, and they did some of their most endearing work in unplugged mode, but for the most part the Dead were [...]
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
As part of our ongoing commitment to electronica-fy classic rock, may we present: Born 2B Wylde [Audio clip: view full post to listen] Revival Revival vs Steppenwolf mp3 download, ipod format download Vocals and arranging by Barbara. Samples, guitar and drum machine programming by me. The song was written by Mars Bonfire. Best stage name [...]
Filed in books, movies, music
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Also tagged bikers, classic rock, drum machines, easy rider, herman hesse, hippies, remixes, revival revival, rock, sixties, steppenwolf
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Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Meet guitarist and producer Nile Rodgers, one of my favorite musicians in the world. He founded Chic along with the late bassist Bernard Edwards, and he’s on Twitter. Nile Rodgers has led an action-packed life. As a teenager, he played with the Sesame Street band, and then with the Apollo Theater house band, where he [...]
Filed in music
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Also tagged bass, bernard edwards, chic, dance, david bowie, disco, duran duran, eighties, funk, gremlins, hip-hop, madonna, nile rodgers, pop, sampling, sugarhill gang
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Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Ohhh What A Feelin’ [Audio clip: view full post to listen] Revival Revival vs Lionel Richie vs Michael Jackson mp3 download, ipod format download Vocals, guitar and bass by Babsy. Beats, loops and production by me. The beat is from “Billie Jean.” We love this song. Here’s the original.
Filed in music
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Also tagged autotune, billie jean, dance, eighties, lionel richie, michael jackson, pop, remixes, revival revival, rock, sampling, typography
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Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Working on Janet Jackson songs made me want to see if she did any tracks with Michael. Here’s what the internet has to say: Michael sings backup vocals on Janet’s early album Dream Street. Janet sings backup on Michael’s “PYT.” She’s in the part towards the end where he says “Pretty young things, repeat after [...]
Filed in autobio, music
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Also tagged autobio, creativity, harmony, hip-hop, janet jackson, michael jackson, molly, music, music theory, psychology, singing, teaching, vest pocket psalm
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See also a post about the Dead and electronic music. Whenever I play guitar, it comes out sounding a lot like Jerry Garcia. I can’t help it. From the ages of fifteen to twenty, my guitar-learning years, there was no musician I cared more about in the world than Jerry. It’s not about drugs. I’ve [...]
Filed in music
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Also tagged audience participation, depression, design, drugs, electronica, fashion, grateful dead, hippies, janis joplin, jerry garcia, midi, sixties, steal your face, tape trading, viral marketing
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Thursday, August 20, 2009
Hip-hop artists love Prince. Like them, he blends drum machines, live jazz-funk musicians and samples of other songs.
Filed in hardware, music
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Also tagged book, drum machines, eighties, george clinton, keybs, pop, prince, remixes, rock, sample maps, sampling, synths
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