United Kingdom

Mark Phillips Good morning (evening etc)
Sorry I did not answer sooner. Had a busy day at the studio with new PA. I have recently sold my Marchall amps and cabinets and was trying something different. Nothing against the British firm, but I just do not get the sound I want from them. So I switched my gear to EMX312SC Yamaha PA and two cabinets from the same firm, pre-amped with Line 6 processor. Now at the rehearsal studio I sound the same as on the record, only louder. This combination turned out a winner for me and I spent all day in driving to get it, setting it up, then playing it just to see if I can drive my years three feet in to my scull. Turned out I can!

Kudos on the improvised drum solution. Nothing stops your creativity, I salute you.

The trick to learning the drums (at least it was for me) is to get the legs and hands controlled separately by your brain. That is a tricky bit. I started by making 2 hits with the hand while only one with the leg on the same side of my body, then do that same by with an opposite leg. Then I did exercises where leg hits in between the times the hand does. It then suddenly clicks in the brain and it learns how to control arms and legs independently.

Eventually I got to play drums in a cover band, the same one I plaid bass until our drummer quit for political reasons.

On first track I initially laid out the drums in FL Studio, bummer, can't change timing in that thing. So in the end I rented an electronic kit. That kit required no mike setup, no engineer, and I did not have a lot of buckshish to shell out for a rental of an acoustic set and all the miking and so on. The 1 and 3 track were recorded on that Roland thing in 1.5 hour with many takes and punch ins. Eventually I glued it all together in to what you hear on them.

That purple Strat you are holding – beautiful thing. I have not seen a bridge like that before. I like the wide neck. Mine is not wide, but my fingers are fat. I am used to it now, and playing some chords with only two fingers instead of three or 4 instead of 5. Learned to use my fat fingers to my advantage. Seems like I always have an extra finger

The orangish-red guitar with golden pickups you have, what make/model is that? That is also a beautiful piece.

I have had me different guitars, but never kept more then two at the same time. Went through Dean, Jackson, B.C.Rich, LP, and this one: http://forum.bandmix.com/viewtopic.php?t=7964, but Strat is my favorite, always has been. The one I have is 1954 re-make and I did custom work on it. The electronics are all redone, those are active EMG pickups powered by 9V. And of cause I do not care what color it is as long as it is black.

The left handed kid Roger Waters had on that show is Doyle Bramhall II a student of Steve Ray Vaughan. John Carin(Keyboard / Accustic) and Snowy White (guy who plays LP) are two musicians that were accompanying Pink Floyd on The Wall tour.

I do in fact have those tracks with vocal line, but I do not publish it, because it is really really bad. Not only I have no voice, I also can't sing in key, so it sounds terrible.

I have asked a member of this site to try and sing one of the tunes. So far the guy is busy with his project, or maybe tried and did not like it. Whatever is the case. I did find one person here who is a member of my band now. Him and I fit rather well. There no recording done with him yet. Stay tuned.

I have tried instrumental only. There only track I show out of that collection is the last one on the profile. Pure 100% instrumental. I have other, less lofty ones that I are not worth sharing. Besides I am plugging away on a new material now. Will take some time to get it all put together, arranged and rehearsed with the band. This time I want band sound, not just me.

Tell me a litter about Britain. If you please. Anything you like. I have never been there, but it was always a place I wanted to visit. I want to know and see none tourist stuff. What would you suggest. (I do make tea the proper way – I am Russian after all and we learned from English)

Alex

Mazdrovia Alexander,
Nice to hear back, and we know the ebb and flow of ciber space where time flows not in clockwork form!
In other words, so no appologies needed for time before replying!

I was using a little 15 watt Marshall combo, but have now moved up to a 30 watt Roland with nice effects; and my drum kits has a big Laney Bass amp with 11 channel graphic equaliser... to get a lovely deep punchy thump from the bass drum!
I must be getting old Alexander; I used to love it all as loud as possible, but now I find it confuses my head, and an acoustic drum kit in the studio is too much for me too, hence this Trapps Alesis joby you you control with a volume knob!

Hand drumming on the damped strings of the bass has been quite fun, but I feel ready now for a clean strong rythmn fused with the bass guitar... I have got too many sounds flapping around in their own little worlds at present.
I want a strong bass and drums and to grow upwards from that in the recording... trouble is I can't envisage doing things in that order, as I can only think of the song growing from what I have written it on: my six string guitar.
I am going to try your drum exercises when I next get out to the studio in the garden... taking wife and daughter to dinner up the pub shortly so will be this evening perhaps?

Renting drums sounds expensive Alexander: I stole the drums off my mate, then bought the laney bass amp on Ebay for £72 ($150?).

That purple strat is very nice; it started life as a seven string but I fitted the trapeze tail and spread six strings across the seven string neck.
My family were Norfolk blacksmiths (farriers?) and I inherited sausage fingers... not totally huge, but just quite clumsy!

I cannot for the life of me think what the orangish guitar with gold pickups can be, but I will look at my profile soon to see!
If I could justify buying a Fender Strat I would go for white I think... I have a Yamaha Strat in black, and I confess it is my least liked colour (color!) for a Strat... though it plays as well as any Fender I have tried.

Hey publish and be damned Alexander (song tracks vocals), simply to say this is what goes where and what it says... speak it or groan it whatever; imidiately it becomes a song and starts to say something an instrumental recording never does.
Even more... think of someone like Mark Knopfler: often half speaking his lines and never more than a croaky melody, yet he tells you something, and he seems to have a personal message in his words.
So publish and be damned!

Ah!!! England my England... I foget which famous guy said that, but I often think it too, and quote it to my Philippino wife who thought it funny at first but now realises how sad I am and that I believe it too!
The truth is I hardly know England!
Where I am in East Sussex there are big contrasts in how people live, from millionaires to some in sort of caravan (trailer) parks; but the geography is green and rolling with wooded hills and river valleys, and a coastline of shingle and sandy beaches and far enough east you can see France on a clear day!
In the First world war we could hear the guns clearly on the western front in northern France... and now many fields between the coast and London still have large craters from flying bombs in the second war.
Everywhere is quite close: last night my friends wanted me to join them to see a band at a pub with live music seven miles away, but my local pub two miles away also had a band on... I stayed at home and worked on my new song!
I have been to Paris in France a few times and it is nice but a little cold it seems to me... London is best by miles, and you can hop on a plane and be in Ireland in a few minutes, and in a bar in Galway or Dublin with an Irish band to make your feet tap.
Up North, as we call it, that is two or three hundred miles and a day's drive, is Yorkshire and Old York you might call it... I haven't been to New York yet, but York itself is a great city, and the northerners are very different people to the southerners.
The Roman Emperor Hadrian built a vast wall from east coast to west coast across north England to keep the wild savage barbarian hoardes up in scotland and northern England; the wall is still there in most places despite being two thousand years old, but we had to knock some holes in it for motorways and things!
But as I said, in truth I hardly know England having still only been to about a quarter of it... I probably know Scotland better and northern France, though I am two to three days ride from Scotland, and half a day from Northern France... one hour to the ferry and two hours later you are in France... whish is across 20 miles of sea.

I am glad you can make good tea Alexander; but England is all arse about face these days! We have Indian friends who live nearby and came for dinner... tea is all grown in India, I was about to make them tea when they said, 'sorry, we only drink coffee!'
I told them they can't be proper Indians if they don't drink tea... so we took them to our Indian Restaurant, and it turns out they don't like proper Indian vegetables like Okra... of course I insulted them as best I could for this, but Indians do not have the same tradition of insults as Russians and English, they are a bit sensitive and take themselves a bit seriously like the Americans, so you have to be careful!

So on with the writing and recording!
And singing!
Mark......................

Hello again Alexander,
I am so dim!
How could I possibly forget my lovely Schecter C1 Elite... flamed maple on mahogany; and yes I bought it on Ebay from a shop in Kentucky.
Most beautifully made guitar I have ever owned with coil tapping too; but probably not quite as open to play as my Ibanez... not that natural wood one with my daughter in the pic, but my grey finish S370DX which had that perfect wizard neck that even sausage fingers seem to flow around on!
Okay... if it works I am just adding a shot of my Ibanez S370DX.
It had a Floyd Rose trem which I chucked... and I think I slightly spread the strings as the wizard neck is quite a good width.
It did help the sausages but the real solution had to be a six stringed seven string!
Mark.........................

Hey Mark,

Did ya git any snow in Medway?

Here in Pennswood, legend has it that if a groundhog comes out on February 2ed, and sees his shadow, London gets buried in snow!

Its sometimes known as General Washington's Valley Forge curse.

cheers!
Howlin' John

How could I possibly forget my lovely Schecter C1 Elite...

Aaaargh. I am jealous
This one is on my wanted list Either that one or the Omen... or the Hellraiser C-1. *drool*




Schecter > Gibson. I'll just sit here in the corner while everyone takes turns to stab me to death for that comment

Hello Howlin J and Andrew,
Yes we have plenty of snow here in Sussex, and I look out on a frozen white world as I write.
I am down as being Medway because that was the only half credible option this site gave to state where I am from; but Medway is in truth a big area where that river Medway runs through in another county called Kent, with towns like Chatham, with the royal dockyards where our navy might have sailed from to go over and claim our little colony across the pond!!!!!!
But Washington whipped our arses in the end... bugger!

But I live much further south, across the border in Sussex... I am almost as close to France as I am to Medway!

My Schecter was Korean and the most perfect piece of woodcraft I have seen; then I bought a Schecter Omen 7 string to convert to a wide-necked six string, it was Chinese built and not in the same league of finsh as the Korean guitar but it played well and sounded really good.

Keep warm,
Mark.......................

Hello Howlin J and Andrew,

But Washington whipped our arses in the end... bugger!

Just between you and me, Mark, I'm not so sure about that.
The Crowns involvement in other parts of the world probably had more to do with American independence then did our beloved Founding Father's military victories (which were few and far between).
One should never attempt to fight to many wars at one time. (funny how some of our leaders can't seem to take a hint from history.)

If you want to read a good book on the subject, (perhaps whilst you're snowed in) might I suggest "The Cousin's Wars" by Kevin Philips

Better put some sno-chains on that BMW.
John

Hello Howwwwwlin John,
That's a very interesting point about the colonial angle, and I had always presumed we just had our arses well whipped by Washington and crept away with our tails between our legs.
I like to think, though maybe a little naievely, that our colonial endeavours didn't always leave the countries in question worse off... clutching at straws perhaps?

You are right that my bike needs snow chains... I just have a fairly standard motorcycle tyre on the driving wheel and facing up a slope on ice from a dead start you are dead meat! The only consolation, and one that I have been using frequently the last couple of days, is that you can get off and push with the handlebars, using the throttle and clutch as it gets going... then step back on again as it picks up speed!

A nice Washburn seven string arrived through the post this morning and I am getting on with re grooving the bridge and nut to turn it into a wide-necked six string.
And it sounds like you are playing it under water too, so I will have to split the humbuckers I think.

Best wishes from Sussex,
Mark................