theindividual21

As some of my readers may be aware, for these past three years I have been undergoing a transformation of sorts, intended to turn me into one of the "best alternate pickers in the world."   The following video represents a snapshot of my progress thus far. The transformation has involved correcting a muscular-skeletal disalignment problem that I have suffered from nearly my entire life.   The process has entailed having me to play guitar in a ways that work the muscles in my shoulder, hip, and upper back, in order to force my body into alignment. With each incremental improvement in physiological symmetry, I became a little better at guitar.   The goal is to achieve full physiological equilibrium, and ultimately, become one of the best alternate pickers in the world. The progress shown in the above video does not reflect the final results of the process.  There is still some residual overall tension, the left hand pinky needs to stay closer to t

In the first post that really drew some views on this little blog here I run I discussed the drum machine as a must have piece of gear for any guitar player -- serious or otherwise.   I can’t tell you how much I’ve benefitted from having my little $180 drum machine.   The gains in skill that I’ve acquired just through playing along to the Alesis SR-18 on a regular basis have merited every penny of the purchase.   It’s just one of those devices that pays for itself.   In the spirit of this original gear-related post, I’m here today to talk about another nifty little invention that I’ve found to be indispensible to my musical career in so many respects over the years – my digital voice recorder.   It’s one of those “capital goods” – that is, one of those items that serve as a means of production .   Not a mere item to be consumed for personal pleasure, but one that facilitates the acquisition of more pleasure. My voice recorder is the Olympus WS-110.   I purchased it for a

It has been a while since I last recorded and posted a track, but I am back with what I feel is my finest cut yet. Once again a diversity of influences come together to create a delightful musical experience, that has no precedent on the modern rock guitar. Cloud 9 sees a blend of my trademark classically influenced guitar style with the heavy bottom end of nu metal, the melodicism of Gothenburg death metal scene, the stately drum beats of Lady Gaga, all topped off with blazing shred guitar licks. The song traverses a number of musical modes including the Mixolydian, Phrygian and Ionian modes. Compared to earlier tunes, Club Shred and Into the Night, Cloud 9 showcases the legato technique. After some dreamy atmospheric lines at 3:09, the listener is smashed upside the head with some ripping arpeggios and Final Fantasy-esque melodies, which culminate in a descending scalar passage, splitting at 3:44 into a descending chromatic scale harmonized in diminished intervals.

So I've been fascinated by this DVD documentary, called Working Class Rockstar .   They make some interesting points about the state of the contemporary music scene/industry. In the clip below Frank Marino is talking about how it always used to be that live music events would be referred to as "concerts" but now they are referred to as "shows".   Apparently, the quality of the music has deteriorated so much that it is no longer about the art, rather image has taken over. It just got me thinking about how these days it seems I never go to a local music show just for the music -- rather, something else seems to draw me out to these events.   The typical event featuring small local artists tends to follow this formula: A large number of acts featured on a single bill, often ranging from 5 to 9; necessary to maximize revenue for venue.   None of the acts present originality to any real degree; current trends reproduced in caricatured form. Ba

THE GODS OF METAL DOING IT AGAIN. www.myspace.com/steveandmaung - insignia on the web!!! http://philosopherofthefuture.blogspot.com

My band Insignia practicing our song "Rock&Roll"... enjoy.