gf in the studio

Sample time!

2009-02-26T15:47:00.000-08:00

Alright, here's two samples straight from the master:

A short ricercare (Ness #4) by Francesco Canova da Milano, Italian lutenist from the 1500s

Stefania, a folkish march by Genovese harp-guitar hero Pasquale Taraffo.

Enjoy!

Introducing: Genteel

2009-02-24T21:24:00.001-08:00

The wait is almost over. Today I shipped the master (and backup) out to the replicators (hats off for great service thus far), and I should have the finished CDs back in my hands on March 19th. It's been an absolutely wild ride, from the first sessions in August to today's last-minute rush, scraping to meet a self-imposed deadline. The album came out as I envisioned it - warm, introspective, with a little bit of a mischievious bent at times, and as it's finally out of my hands I get to sit back and enjoy a little bit of an afterglow.
I am offering free shipping to all who order before March 19th. If you want to go out on a limb and support this project...well, know that it's greatly appreciated, and that you can do so by clicking on the Paypal button below. I'll put a sample or two up very soon.

More to come...

Slowly but surely...

2009-01-28T23:37:00.000-08:00

...the work is proceeding. Yesterday I got together with Elliot and heard some of the edited tracks. I walked out of the listening room with a big grin on my face - I very much liked what I heard. In all honesty I needed this kind of feedback, as having the project sitting for all of this time was making me feel uncomfortable about the whole venture. A few more tracks remain to be finished, and then it's off to the next step. I might post a little sneak peek once I get a CD of the finished tracks - until then...

Another Sporadic Update

2008-11-24T20:56:00.000-08:00

Hello readers near and far. The semester at the Conservatory has long since shifted into high gear, and as a result this student-run production slowed down considerably. It looks extremely dubious that the CD will be finished for the Holidays, but that's OK - good things come to those who wait, right?
The brighter side is that, from listening to the tracks over these months, I can say I'm positively excited about the whole thing. Sure, nothing is ever as "spotless" as I'd like, but I've caught myself smiling while listening more than once.
So hang in there (if you're hanging), and rest assured that I'll keep you updated as things progress.

Alive and kicking on Election Day 2008

2008-11-04T16:20:00.000-08:00

Just a quick notice to say that the project for the CD is still alive and kicking, despite being bogged down by a kicking (in a different sense) semester at the conservatory. I am currently wading the thick quagmire of the raw tracks, trying to put some sort of edit plan on paper for the engineers to go by. If all goes well that should be finished by the end of the week, with the completed edits to follow soon after. After that it's graphic design and mastering time, with the hope of sending everything to pressing by the end of the month. Well wishes and other pleasantries are encouraged...

Hear a couple of tracks on NPR-Spokane

2008-09-09T19:38:00.000-07:00

This coming Thursday I will be appearing on KPBX, the local NPR station for Spokane, WA, as a guest for Leon Atkinson's 'Guitar Hour'. The plan is to play something live and then spin a roughly-mixed track or two - we did some lightning-fast editing earlier today with Elliot, a feat of remarkable proportions considering that school might have just started but it's gotten pretty danged busy quickly. You are of course welcome to listen online - show's on at 11 am PST.

The Crew, Part 4: Mixing 'n' Mastering

2008-09-04T22:43:00.000-07:00

In this day and age, meeting people on the internet isn't all that strange anymore. I have been fortunate enough to be part of a wonderfully supportive, if a bit quirky, online community of guitrists and guitar aficionados called The Soundhole. Gene Backlin is one of the members there, and he often graced the group's meetings and jam sessions with his recording skills. Interested as I was to add as many 'ears' to the project as possible, I was more than happy to accept his offer to be involved with my recording. While I have yet to meet him face-to-face, we've been trading stories online (along with a few hundred some other people) for years now, and as such I now that sharing a couple of guitar tunes is going to feel just second nature when we finally get around to that.

The Crew, Part 3: Design

2008-09-02T10:51:00.000-07:00

James Pierce brings his eye for clean, effective, and smart design to the project. He's actually a "return" engagement, having provided photos and art for "Tones" a few years back. While most of his time is spent shooting and editing video, he does plenty of work as a photographer, web designer, artist, and professional ice cream eater. An old college roommate of mine, James is first and foremost a very good friend. I'm happy to have him aboard, and I like to think he's happy about it too.

Tracking - DONE!

2008-08-27T22:24:00.001-07:00

And boy does it feel good. We finished tracking at around 11:00 this morning, about an hour ahead of schedule, which allowed for the photo shoot to take place immediately after...quite convenient if I may say so myself.

The session went well even though the material proved to be the most challenging - Farewell to Stromness is super-exposed, and A Dance for Muriel is just wicked tricky. We did quite a number of takes and "spotting", and I'm afraid quite a bit of editing will be involved with these particular tunes (along with some of the other ones, who am I kidding...)

Special props to Elliot for being extra helpful with feedback and guidance today.Stay tuned to see some of Matthew's great photos!

2nd Day Recount

2008-08-26T21:16:00.000-07:00

The second recording session did not seem to be born under a lucky star, especially with the Massive Weekend Cancellation Event I referenced in the last post. However, sometimes things just seem to work better a certain way.
Elliot and I were in the studio and ready to go at 3:00 on Monday, and I launched on the two Taraffo songs with a slight concern of being short on time; I mean, this is substantially more challenging stuff than what I recorded the previous week, so I was worried we might end up in measure-by-measure land pretty quickly.
Fortunately the fingers seemed to be compliant, and by the end of the day we even shot past our initial target of three tunes, having taken both Sakura and the Scarlatti down alongside with Stefania and the Tarantella.

Tomorrow we'll go in early in the morning (for us), and Matt should even show up for some pictures. Only two tracks to go, and then it's off to editing.

A slight delay

2008-08-25T12:20:00.000-07:00

So, the weekend's two recording sessions had to be canceled due to a scheduling mishap - the hall was being used all day for vocal auditions, a very, very big deal involving more than a hundred singers at the school. Fortunately we had a backup session (later today) and I managed to schedule another one for Wednesday; in case we don't get to finish tracking by then we'll probably start editing what we have and get a final round in the studio next week. Updates to follow.

The Crew, Part 2: Engineering

2008-08-20T10:33:00.000-07:00

Elliot Simpson continues this curious trend of multi-
talented people involved with my project. A fellow student of David Tanenbaum at the Conservatory, Elliot can arguably dance circles around me while playing, yet he graciously accepted to provide his services as an engineer; he works both as one of the in-house recording people at SFCM and as a freelancer. Whimsical, resourceful, and otherwise adorable, he's just the best kind of person to have on the other side of the glass window. Keep your eyes and ears open for his own musical endeavors in the near future.

The Crew, Part 1: Photos

2008-08-19T20:29:00.001-07:00

Matthew Washburn is one of those rare people who can do several things incredibly well. A talented double-bassist, with an active involvement in the San Francisco Chamber and New Music scenes, Matt also takes photos. As a matter of fact, he takes killer photos. Nearly every student at the Conservatory goes to him for headshots and the likes; given his uncanny ability to beautify, I thought I'd better make sure he was the one to take the album's pics. Matt will be shooting the Sunday session and then we might pick a location and do another shoot, depending on what we get. His use of lighting is absolutely striking to me, and I invite you to visit his website to see for yourselves.

A Great First Day of Tracking

2008-08-18T18:07:00.000-07:00

Today was probably the best day I've EVER had in front of a mic. Everything (well, almost everything) went smoothly, and Elliot and I got all of the Scottish Lute stuff, the two Da Milano pieces, the Beatles tunes, and Genteel done. The guitar sounds warm and clear in the Osher Salon - actually even better than I was expecting!

We settled on using two mics only, a nice pair of Neumanns set up a couple of feet away, on tall stands. This gave us a very desireable tone with a minimum of fuss, and it proved to be quite forgiving with my slight swaying/moving while playing, alongside with my less-than-clear execution some times. They also seemed to pick the natural "sheen" of the room quite nicely - some would say that in this case less was definitely more!

There were a few disruptions, namely some overhead lights "clicking" from the heat, some unsolicited use of the adjacent freight elevator, and the occasional less-than-gracious interloper opening the door to the hall. Even with all that, we definitely should have enough material to go on to the next batch of pieces.

Now there will be a sort of 'break' until the next three sessions on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday if needed. I'm thinking of splitting up the remaining six pieces in two groups of three, and then see what happens. That will still give me about an hour for each piece, and even though the remaining material is harder than what I've done today, with some preventive practice I should be in shape for it.

Next, a series of posts introducing the people involved with this project.

T minus one

2008-08-17T13:56:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow will be the first day of tracking; I really meant to take some pictures of the room during the weekend but two things happened:
1) I was busy working and practicing most of the day on Saturday;
and
2) I forgot that this would be the last Sunday of summer hours of the conservatory, meaning the building would be closed.

In any event, I should have some pictures taken during the next couple of tracking sessions, again partly for posterity and partly to see if something 'booklettable' turns out.
Still working on figuring out a title for the whole thing. I have a couple of ideas, but, as usual, this sort of process never seems to be easy.

I almost forgot - the idea for tomorrow would be first of all to scope out the sound, and then, hopefully, to track all of the Renaissance stuff (DaMilano+Scottish Lute rep) alongside with some of the "tried and true" things that I've been playing the longest (Genteel and the Beatles tunes). Of course, this might all go down the drain according to my actual form in front of the mikes. Here's wishing for a flowing and productive session!

Of Tracklists and Men

2008-08-12T21:52:00.000-07:00

The first step before recording a CD, one would think, is to have something to record. However, I had decided it was time to work on Album #2 well before I had a clear idea of what would be on the finished product. The reason I believe to be pretty simple: as I continue my education in classical guitar, I see myself confronted with increasingly complex repertoire, while at the same time becoming aware of the myriad different artists who have already recorded the same pieces I spend so much time working on.
On the other hand, my compositional output has come to a screeching halt ever since "Tones", so the alternative avenue of choice wasn't available either.

Over the course of the summer I sensed the desire to be back in the studio growing, and after a casual conversation with my stepmom (who was worried that all of my concerts would feature those complicated modernist works I'm so fond of), I began to see the outlines of an accessible, yet highly personal, program that would be both a pleasure and a sensible move to record.
The theme was simple; identify a series of "seminal" pieces that could outline the development of my playing as an interpreter.

It all started with the Beatles, and then it moved on to the Mediterranean idioms of the solo guitar during my time with Armando Corsi. Thinking of my decision to move to Nashville to study with Muriel Anderson, I remembered it was her colorful and evocative playing that entranced me to the point of leaving home. To represent my current studies with David Tanenbaum, I chose examples of Early Music - a genre whose riches were properly introduced to me only in our recent lessons.
To this quasi-chronological progression I then added a few personal touches - both because I like them and because I think people will, too. One of these is a song I wrote and recorded already, but not as a solo. This very piece, more than everything else, will probably show the evolution I've undergone as a player in these years.

So here's the tentative tracklist for 'codename: ahi tuna.' The order and actual pieces are of course subjected to change, but this should give you an idea of what's coming.

1) Ricercare #4 and Fantasia #33 (Francesco da Milano)
2) Sonata in A Major, K208 (Domenico Scarlatti)
3) Stefania (Pasquale Taraffo)
4) Tarantella (Pasquale Taraffo)
5) Genteel (Giacomo Fiore)
6) In my Life (Lennon-McCartney)
7) Yesterday (Lennon-McCartney)
8) A Dance for Muriel (Jorge Morel)
9) Sakura (Yuquijiro Yocoh)
10) Four Pieces from the Scottish Lute Manuscripts (anon.)
11) Farewell to Stromness (Peter M. Davies)

Recording dates set!

2008-08-12T17:21:00.000-07:00

Hello everybody! Welcome to the official "studio log" for my newest recording project, 'codename: ahi tuna.' Here you will find what I hope will be prompt and timely updates on the development of the project.

The repertoire has been picked (more on that later), but the most pressing thing is that I've secured the first round of recording sessions for next week. The album will be recorded at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, in the warm and oh-so-familiar Osher Salon. I was really pleased with the recorded sound from my recital this past May, and this hall easily offers the best insulation from outside noise.

I guess now it's off to practice to make sure I'll be ready for the first batch come Monday...