Richo?
The weirdest Fender guitar
The strange variations being produced by Fender have been on my mind ever since I bought a Meteora
Given I have more guitars than I need, it's difficult to justify purchasing one; but the warmth of my Meteora's split humbuckers and wide neck has made it a favourite.
Disquiet Junto 0711 Show & Tell &
The Junto project this week is to "Share some recent music; get and give feedback."
I'm sharing a track that was originally recorded for the Junto, which I thought to revisit recently.
My feeling is that it's too long, possibly too repetitive (although it is aiming for a pop sensibility), and I've wondered if it's offensive -- so I was thinking to replace the word "bitch" with "glitch" and then adding more of that kinda effect.
Obsessed much
Yesterday I thought I'd built the ultimate board, then last night I saw it could connect to an earlier one.
So it turned out to be the penultimate board and this weekend it'll feed on the disconnected cables, pedals and power supply to become a greater board.
Pedal bored
Then I noticed how neatly the cables fit the keyboard tray, and thought I should try something new.
So I plugged the omnichord into the MIDI box, where the drum machine had been.
That sounded better after I plugged in another drum machine, given it's a 505 it's not so much better but enough.
It's been fun looping with Habit, then adding cheese.
Lost & Found
I feel like a fan for wanting to write about it but Chase Bliss' new pedal has missed the mark for me.
Before they announced Lost & Found I had pondered whether a multi-effect would be an option for their new pedal.
Usually Chase Bliss will dive really deep on features, almost exhausting possibilities and then adding a digital brain that allows for recalling multiple presets and other MIDI options.
That, as much as being their first multi-effect, is a significant difference with this pedal and I can't help but think that it might be what's lost.
This focus on possibilities with switches and dipswitches has been an aspect of the company tagline "Digital Brain, Analog Heart" but interestingly it's an area that's been scrutinised by other fanboys.
The digital side of that analogy has come to dominate the CBA product line and the move away from light-dependent resistors must have pushed them further into algorithms.
So the announcement of the Brothers AM pedal earlier this year struck me as being a statement affirming their brand values, as much as another of those clever collaborations that have made Chase Bliss such an inspiring company for musicians.
I was really impressed with the original Brothers pedal and am looking forward to trying the new version, but it's still a long way away (like probably a five-hour drive).
This new pedal, Lost & Found, seems very much a digitally-brained and also "hearted" effect in combining a dozen or so interesting sounds and maximising the potential to cross-pollinate them together.
The video detailing the feature set includes Tom Majeski, who contributed to so much Bliss with the Onward pedal and Cooper collaboration Generation Loss that has been a part of that shift in the product line.
When I was daydreaming about what a new Chase Bliss pedal might include, I thought the idea of having a synth-style pedal could be good with the filters that provide character.
The pitch-tracking of pedals in recent years that allow polyphonic results has been a development that means I'm less likely to grab one of the MIDI guitars for jamming, but I guess I've been using Ableton Live's transcriptions for recordings for years anyway.
The idea of an instrument-like effect was one of those things that surprised me when it then appeared in the Lost & Found announcement, which brings together a "museum" of Bliss.
As a curator I really like the wunderkammer idea of the cabinet of curiosities from this company. but I guess the converse side of that was feeling underwhelmed.
These options seem to be kinda shallow compared to the deep dive other pedals take into failing media (like Lossy or Generation Loss).
From a value-proposition perspective I can see the brand needs to balance providing an inspiring palette for musicians within a pedal, while trying to include enough of the character that has distinguished Chase Bliss but not so much that people decide another pedal provides a depth to really make these sounds one's own.
I'm still weighing up whether I'm such a Bliss fan that I "need" this pedal, but my initial response is that my existing pedals provide most of these sounds.
With a few Zoia pedals I could probably get rid of most of my pedal collection, but I think their interfaces and design serve so many roles for a musicians.
I've written elsewhere about how much I like the nostalgic branding used by Chase Bliss, particularly the way old media shapes their sounds and appears in their marketing -- like the Viewmasters in the current promotions.
It's this character that underscores the "lost" in the model's name.
It is this blend of sentimentality and a nostalgia for things lost as the world moves forward that seems to embody a Japanese concept like wabi-sabi.
In fact, grief is such a theme in the Chase Bliss brand that I think it provides a sense of emotional depth and resonances that reach beyond being a pedal company.
If they were to start emulating Teenage Engineering, then I would be fascinated to be a fly on the wall in the meetings that Joel Korte would chair to canvas possibilities.
I would love to smell a range of candles or taste a sample box of chocolates for the experiences that I expect Chase Bliss would provoke, but at present I feel like Lost & Found is still looking for a place in my guitar effect pedal collection.
Robert Smith on writing a pop song
“Genuinely dumb pop lyrics are much more difficult to write than my usual outpourings through the heart,” Robert told Spin Magazine. “I went through hundreds of sheets of paper, trying to get words for [Friday I’m in Love]. You have to hit something that's not cringe - a simplicity and naiveté that communicates. There's a dumbness that sort of cracks. We've always done pop songs. It's just sometimes they're way too down, sort of desperate.”
Chords
“It's a really good chord progression, I couldn't believe no-one else had used it and I asked so many people at the time (I was getting drug paranoia anyway) ‘I must have stolen this from somewhere, I can't possibly have come up with this.' I asked everyone I knew, everyone. I'd phone people up and sing it and go, 'Have you heard this before? What's it called?' They'd go, 'No, no, I've never heard it.’” Smith told Guitar World.
Accidents
“That was an accident, albeit a happy one.” Robert remembered in an interview with Guitar Player. “I was playing with the pitch control and forgot to turn it off. The whole feel changed, and the fact that it’s the only song on Wish that’s not in concert pitch really lifts it out and makes it sound different. After working on the record for months, hearing something a quarter tone off makes your brain take a step backwards.”
Disquiet Junto 0710 Let's Get Loud
The Junto project has one step, "Choose a recent piece of your own music and rework it by making some portions of it significantly louder and busier than they were initially."
I've taken a piece of a guitar recording and cut it in half, then layered those together.
naviarhaiku604 – In spring sunlight
Disquiet Junto 0709 Overclocked
The Disquiet assignment is to "Speed up a machine (or process) until it falters":
Step 1: Think of a machine (or process) you use frequently.
Step 2: Push that machine (or process) by speeding it up, until it begins to break down.
Step 3: Record something making use of the sounds resulting from Step 2.
I've recorded my second pedal board, which I put together after noticing I'd left a bunch of Chase Bliss pedals off my first pedal board.
Insect chords
Made a mash with the last two tracks, combining the vocal chord Junto with my jam on the gated guitar rig.
Both recordings used similar chords, which helped a lot I think.
naviarhaiku603 – insect tremolo
Disquiet Junto 0708 Vocal Chords
The Disquiet Junto assignment is to "Do something with layers of the sound of your voice."
Aiden Arata on laziness
Procrastination is actually an ideation process…
I don’t believe in laziness anymore. I just don’t think it’s a thing. You’re tired, or you’re feeling avoidant, or you have a very good reason for not wanting to do something, or you’re just weighed down by how sad the world is…
We live in a very sick society in that way, where anything that isn’t commodifiable is not viable. It brings us back to the conversation of laziness.
naviarhaiku602 – scent of plum
I considered how one will often reach a plateau when walking up mountains, incorporating a slower section in the key change of this song.
Manipulated footage via タンタンポッピング - ミルキーウェイ乗組員 - やってみます。
Gay Frog pedal
Disquiet Junto 0707 Chain of Practice
The Disquiet Junto project this week has a few steps:
Step 1: Think about your artistic practice.
Step 2: Write down one sentence that in some manner describes your artistic practice.
Step 3: Record yourself, or someone else, reading the sentence that resulted from Step 2.
I recorded myself with an old iPhone saying the line shown to the top-right of my blog, hear below.
When I imported the video into Ableton Live I noticed there was a considerable click at the end, which saved me from having to manipulate a transient to produce a kick sound.
Then I picked a couple of ess-y bits for other percussive sounds, looping them and adding Live's Beatrepeat to gate them.
I also looped the word "sample," pitching it down and adding a filtered EQ, as well as the word "looping," which was pitched up and also EQ'd.
I looked for a few extended vowel sounds, to pitch up and create harmonic progression.
These weren't grabbing me, so I added Live's resonator and a Sinevibes' effect that is a great shortcut for this sorta thing.
naviarhaiku601 – pulling light
Since I'd been rocking out on drums over the weekend, this song was influenced by a guitar riff.
Then when I went looking for a video to pair with my track, the keyword brought up breakdancing by a Chinchin Milkyway.
So I changed the instruments to be more like something he'd be dancing with and made a few edits to suit the pacing.
Cute kit
I had to put a couple of pillows in the kick and the snare rattles a bit, since it's attached.
The cymbals were mine, but I wasn't using them and am now enjoying the '70s-sounding deeper snare and darker hats.
Love this idea!
Then there's the disorienting aspect of microphones and their influence on proximity, which can shift focus.
Disquiet Junto 0706 Tile One On
The project has one step, "record something that makes use of the acoustics of your bathroom."
I took the opportunity to make my first recording of a cute little secondhand drum kit that I bought.
It has a snare attached to the kick drum, which rattles a bit, but I'm thinking that I might leave that off for my Fire Cracker snare in future.
Wasn't sure what to add, so I grabbed my ukulele and started with the G minor chord that gets used a lot.
naviarhaiku600 – thinking of us
Their haiku reminded me there was footage I'd shot of the trees during autumn, which allowed me to go look through my files for a piece of music.
I've tried to incorporate atmosphere and a crunchiness for the leaves.
Disquiet Junto 0705 Book Start
The Junto assignment this week is to "Let the beginning of a book help you begin a new piece of music."
I've read the opening to Andrea Wulf's Magnificent Rebels, which I began this week because I enjoyed her book on Alexander Von Humboldt.
Disquiet Junto 0704 Right on Cumulus
The Junto prompt this week is to "compose 8-bit music" and I was kinda stumped.
I looked at using some of the Nintendo-sounding presets on the Kaossilators that my son has been using recently for an assignment, then decided to try the Bitquest pedal that arrived this week.
It's being run through the Chase Bliss Habit pedal for delay/looping, while I cycle through a few settings.
Dr No Raven
Has a cocked wah-kinda effect, but with more resonance.
Disquiet Junto 0703 That's How You Got Killed Before
The Junto assignment this week is to "Revisit something that you just couldn’t get to work last time."
I've gone back to my track 'Wanderer' to try layering a couple of takes that I noticed were close in their tempo, despite not using a clicktrack.
Disquiet Junto 0702 Chain of Application
The Junto this week asks participants to misuse music software.
Usually I use Ableton Live by composing in MIDI, then exporting those notations as sound.
Today I thought to record a song called 'Inner Bitch' using my Suzuki Omnichord to play the MIDI parts.
naviarhaiku596 – spring dream
Disquiet Junto 0701 Gap Ear
The Disquiet Junto assignment is to "Break apart a piece of music and fill the resulting spaces."
I've gone back to my surprise hit from Easter, Innuendo.
Carefully the ukulele part has been cut away, then a moody synth added.
Pedalboards in bloom
What’s the difference between a lead guitarist and a terrorist?
You can negotiate with a terrorist!What do you do when you see a girl on the arm of a guitar player?
Say "Nice tattoo"!What’s the difference between a guitarist and a savings bond?
Eventually, a savings bond will mature and make money!
Uncle Jimmy on culture
Well culture – you can't experience culture, you can't learn it, you can't describe it. You've got to live it. You've got to live it. If you want people to like you you've got to like them. If you want people to respect you you've got to respect them. You can't force your ideas on people. It mightn't be the right way for you. You might have to travel another trail to get to the right meaning and in culture you know that, you know that way. It's more like – I suppose culture was a religion or something similar to religion. It's a way of life, yeah, it's the way you live your life.
Disquiet Junto 0700 View Frame
I couldn't resist recording this piece for the 700th Junto project.
The directions were to show people a glimpse outside my world, so here's my backyard and some of the laundry that I washed today.
As I haven't packed away my drumkit yet for winter, I decided to have a bash.
A 303-style bassline has been added because it was the easiest thing to consider at this time.
One bit of reflection is how I began recording videos for Junto projects at number 100.
Since then that playlist has grown to over 450, which means I've responded to three-quarters of the prompts in that time.
I was first introduced to the Junto community around 027, which involved music from text but I worried my response had misinterpreted the instruction and didn't share it.
Straya by Kink
For anyone reading who isn't an Australian, the character represented is the kind of lower socio-economic figure that might be considered a "redneck" -- although I wouldn't use that term with them directly.
The signifiers are the mullet haircut, "Jackie Howe" blue singlet and Southern Cross tattoo.
As for the sound of the pedal, I was pleasantly surprised.
On the right-hand side is a tubescreamer-style boost, while the left has a throaty overdrive.
It had me playing rock riffs as soon as these were engaged.
I tried it alongside my CopperSound Foxcatcher and Ly-rock King of Clone, which revealed the former to have a bassier boost and fuzzier overdrive (running at 9v, as I haven't tried the 18v option yet).
The Ly-rock pedal has an okay boost and fuzzier distortion, but has sounded way too trebly for my liking.
A friend introduced me to Kink pedals last year, when he brought a Dozer along to a jam.
While graphics on pedals have been a weakness for me, I really like the sounds that I'm getting from Straya.
Wanderer
In my backyard is a mint plant that I hoped might grow to replace my lawn.
Many butterflies land on the flowers when it blooms.
I started researching their varieties as I began photographing them and became interested in the Wanderer, which is the Australian version of the Monarch.
It has distinctive white spots on a black body and magnificent wings coloured like autumnal leaves.
This type of butterfly arrived in Australia around the time my father's great-grandparents migrated here.
It is thought it may have been blown here by a cyclone, but found the imported milkweed plant that supports Monarch caterpillars and was able to survive.
My parents were both born in North America, so I've come to adopt the Wanderer as a symbol for my identity.
I've performed the song using a ukulele, as it is an instrument from the Pacific – the ocean that unites Australia, Japan and the USA.
Green light
The second round of the 2025 Disquiet Junto trio project has been a delight.
Once again Sam Knot has added prose to my drums and I love hearing his gentle voice bringing colour to my beats.
naviarhaiku592 – slanting sunlight rays
The track was produced with Ableton Live, after I recorded takes for different parts and arranged them. I'd listen to this in a forest.
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