August 12, 2011- did solo sessions August 5, 6, 8, 10, & 11. but have not listened back to anything but the 11th [yesterday] sessions. began editing some of those tracks, burned a 'proof' cd- and jt and i had tea and listened last night; i got some nice surprises. i am doing experiments in minimalism; leaving a lot of space [which is just as important as a sound]. might possibly use some of the tracks & add lyrics/vocals, but that is really not the purpose or point. i get tired of hearing words.
by editing: i am mainly cutting out the 1st trial bits where i begin & wander into something, then if i screw it up, stop, then begin again and expand on it- sometimes the 1st takes are better, even with an occasional blurb- but i dont edit those out. i just play: no thought involved- just auto pilot. fingers guided by spirit- not thought.
i'm using my tascam DR-1 portable digital recorder, which has a good stereo mic. i'm using NO reverb or any effects- using the natural reverb of the concrete wall behind the piano in the garage- which has a a very deep rich mellow tone. i let the recorder run non stop as i improvise one song; stop; do another & another, until i get fatigued, then stop- transfer the 1 long file to my external hard drive; then take the file into sound forge & separate the songs into individual files; save the raw files; then edit/normalize the individual tracks.
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| tools of the trade: cigarettes, my crystal ashtray, coffee in a soup bowl & the notebook where i write down the ''take" # & what key i am about to 'play' something in, then commence |
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| my beautiful burger & jacoby piano [in the garage] made in Biel in 1800- es ist meine schatze |
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| the artiste as the artiste- pre session- Switzerland 2011 |
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| still life- stille leben- a vintage broken crucifix, my vintage mandolin, & various junk on vintage velvet sofa in my bedroom- want to try some things w/the mandolin even though its missing strings, out of tune, & i dont know how to play it. |
the crazy thing is that i did this same recording trip in 2009- and did 60+ songs then! but have not done anything with that music yet- so have decided rather than trying to title each cd, will just title each cd by date- i.e. as yesterdays: improvisations 8.11.2011 etc. make 1 cd of each session, for digital download only, place it with cdbaby- which gets them on amazon, i tunes, rhapsody, etc etc etc- i feel this work is valid, and healing- i am immersing myself in dream/ sleep/ music therapy, here in la belle suisse, meine zweite heimat.many thanks to jacqueline.
now for more coffee and new sessions... my piano awaits me
[C]2011 DOUG DUFFEY
