Randall's Blog

Here is another artist I found on MySpace.

Julia has a sultry and soulful voice that is well suited to her honest and thoughtful lyrics and her acoustic guitar fills out the sonic palette nicely. This girl is worth listening to and I recommend that you do so.


Julia's MySpace

Her Official Website

Twas My Last Gig Before Christmas

Twas my last gig before Christmas, when all through the house
Nothing was working, not even my best licks ala Son House,
My band mates were all playing with the greatest of care,
In hopes that someone in the audience would get out of their chair.
My fingers were nimble, my strings were not dead,
And I tried to play every note as it sounded in my head,
While Stanley the bassist laid down a groove that was phat,
Yet the listeners still seemed not to notice any of that...
When out in the parking lot arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the stage to see what was the matter.
Away through the audience I flew like a flash,
That’s when I noticed every single one of them was trashed.
The room on the left was still watching the show
Even though the lead guitarist had walked out the door,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than appregios his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:
"Now,Hendrix! now, Holly! now Dimebag and Vaughan!
On, Garcia! on Gatemouth! on, Blind Lemon and Walker (T-Bone)!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"
As lithe melodies that sing while played with a slide,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So up to the roof-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of gear, and St. Nicholas too.
And then, in a tweakering, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I went back inside, and returned to the stage,
I was surprised to find St. Nicholas had taken my place.
He was dressed in black leather, from his head to his foot,
And his reindeer were all holding guitars in their hooves.
A modified Gibson, an ES 335, was hung on his strap,
And it looked like so beautiful, all shiny and black.
His eyes -- how they twinkled – as he plugged into my amp!
Then he looked at me and motioned me to come up the ramp.
He introduced himself as Riley and his guitar as Lucille,
And I stood there in awe as he started to wail.
And finally the whole audience rose to their feet,
as the bassist and drummer provided the beat.
He had a broad face and fingers like spaghetti
That pulled and bent out sweet notes a plenty.
He was chubby and plump, a hard rocking old elf,
And I cried because his tone was ringing like a bell.
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.
He spoke not a word as he stepped off the stage,
And gave each of his reindeer a chance to play,
Each in his turn laying their fingers to the strings,
And playing their hearts out like angels that sing.
Then he sprang to the stage, and to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all shredded like Eddie Van Halen.
And I heard him exclaim, over the musical delight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"

Author: Clement C. Moore
(as corrupted by Randall “Pappy” Pappas)

I let a few friends listen to the track. While they thought it was good then noticed that the rhythm guitar and bass just weren't quite in time with the drums.

I have to admit they are right. I was able to fix it somewhat with editing, but that's not what this particular track is about.

I'm putting this song on hold for now and moving on with Greek Tragedy, which I'm currently hashing/hacking out. It will be an acoustic song, but I may add some electic or drums to it or the second half of the song.

Ofcourse I will still keep practicing my playing for Voodoo. When I record again, I will do the rhtyhm guitar first so that it's tight with the drums. Then I will record the bass line. Since it is essentially a melody it can float around a bit with out causing trouble.

Also, I did write some lyrics so I may try singing on this one (ugh).

This band has the now classic “White Stripes” line up: one drummer and one guitarist. That’s all these guys need. I didn’t even notice the lack of a bass. This song is “in your face” and “kick in the crotch” punk. Lots of energy, that’s what I like. The vocals are good. They remind me of the B-52s, but much edgier. This just proves once again that girls that play Telecasters are cool.


Reactavox's Official Website

Reactavox on MySpace

Danny has a great voice and this is a professional recording and the production and the mixing are both excellent. This song also features a good guitar solo. The lyrics are good and the tune is very reminiscent of Bow Wow Wow’s 80’s rendition of “I Want Candy” by Strangegloves. All in all it has a nice modern Nashville sound, and in my opinion Danny’s lyrics are a good fit.



Danny's Official Website

Danny's MySpace


Danny's Official Website

Bill@Welcome Home Studios post lots of valuable infomation on the guitar player forum. He is a recording professional and it is rare to find such excellent advice for FREE.

Quoting Bill:

First, I suggest that you concentrate on the writing and let some other recording geek do his job. Why split your forcus?

Now, drums and bass are not 'added'. If you try this, they will -sound- 'added'. Write the song, get the whole idea happening, then write the bass and drum tracks, and play along with them. If you do this the other instruments will fall into the drum/bass groove.

The best tool for this that I ever worked with is no longer available... it was called Drummer, from Cool Shoes software, and I would sit with my acoustic and write drum tracks for whole songs measure by measure, and when I was finished I had a completed drum track. (I also play bass a little, so I just played my own bass parts... hint.... it ain't lead. Keep it simple and crisp.)

About mixing... the best way tot hink of the sonic palatte is as a glass.... it can only hold so much, then you're screwed. Everyone tries to mix every single instrument so that it is KILLER... killer hot, killer tone, full spectrum balls to the wall KILLER. well, okayyyyyy..... but an instrument that full of level and harmonic content does not mix with anything. Each instrument has to leave room for the others, or you just end up with mud. So mix these instruments in context, while listenting to he rest of th song, and you'll find that you use a much gentler hand on the controls and get better mixes quicker.

Also, in the typical pop song the instruments support the vocal, so if you start with a killer vocal sound at a good level and mix the other instruments in to support that vocal, the whole thing will make more sense than if you start with something like the kick drum and try to build your mix from there.

Bill


More Links to Bill:

Official Site for Welcome Home Studios

Bill's articles and profile at zoominfo.com

Bill at the Guitar Player Forum

My first impression: Stevie Ray Vaughan fronts Pink Floyd.

This song is a fine example of pure Texas Blues Rock. The lead tone is hot, but crystal clear. Also, these guys get an A+ for excellent use of wah. This is definitely a professional recording, and the mixing is perfect. The sound is pristine and has lots of head room.

I like this song, it’s kicks butt. I highly recommend listening to this song.



Official Website

Crash Landings MySpace

This song has a nice slow “Robin Trowery” groove. The lead guitar tone is awesome, A+ for getting the right amount of echo and not overdoing it. The rhythm guitar does a nice job with the wah, I’m a big fan of wah by the way. The only thing that disappointed me: The bass was too far down in the mix. To get the real Robin Trower sound, you need to bring the bass up in the mix.

Great song, I recommend that everyone listen to this song.



Official Website

City Dreams MySpace