If you talk to the people who were going to gigs in London in the ’60s and ’70s, or even playing such gigs, it sounds idyllic compared to what happens today. I’ve been told plenty of stories of music venues drawing large crowds of young people looking for a good night out and hoping to […]
When I first began this blog, I never envisaged writing two articles about something that Amanda Palmer had done. As I pointed out out in the first one, I’m no fanboy. Nevertheless, I’m starting to think quite highly of her philosophy, after I watched this TED talk: If you, like me, are interested in making […]
Welcome back – it’s been a while. The last time I was rambling about this project, I was halfway through the French polishing process. Now, I’ve finished it. At the end of part V, I was entering into Step 6 – the second phase of bodying, building up layer upon layer of shellac over the […]
Or “ASAM: Bandcamp Edition”. If you’re an independent musician, trying to sell your records, it’s increasingly cheap to get your material out to people. With the growing popularity of digital downloads, you could probably get away without ever burning a CD copy of your music. (I wouldn’t recommend this, obviously: a lot of people still […]
The last four instalments in the saga of Aradia’s construction have formed a tale of scouring eBay for parts, avoiding any woodworking that required serious precision and carrying out the remainder of the woodworking with the most inadequate tools and laughable incompetence I could muster. Now, however, I have managed to shamble my way to […]
Welcome back. Where I left you with part III, Aradia had been taken to meet my parents, and my father had drilled some holes in her neck. With three of the four neck joint screws successfully in place – and one very nearly there – I was about to take a chisel to her pickup […]
Or, Can a “serious” musician get away with playing Gangnam Style? Time for a show of hands – raise one or the other if you’re a musician who’s currently playing with a band. Keep said hand up if your band has performed live recently or is likely to do so in the near future. Now, […]
Or, TheCrowFromBelow rants at length about bass overdrives before finally telling you about his new TS9B. Overdrive and/or distortion effects are just one of those things that the modern lead guitarist is never without. Very few rock or blues guitarists would leave the house without one in their guitar case – well, except Angus Young, […]
It’s been a while since I updated Aradia’s ongoing story. At the end of Part II, Aradia was starting to resemble a bass guitar rather than just a collection of parts; the machine heads were attached to the headstock, and I’d started bolting the neck to the body. Unfortunately, in the process, I’d knackered the […]
Not so long ago, a music journalist by the name of Chloe Papas wrote a scathing review of an album by Chris Brown. It went viral very quickly and has already attracted comment from plenty of sources. Myself, I found it via Facebook, and couldn’t help but notice the comments left by other users. For […]
