Solo Music
I've been trying for some time to work on a solo album, but am invariably too busy with family and band commitments to make progress on this.
In the process of working on ideas, I've completed a couple of ideas, which aren't in a finished format, but I'm happy to post on this site. They're both born out of experiments working with different instruments / sounds.
| The Phoenix (3.38 MB) |
An instrumental I wrote using electric drums, electric guitar, synth bass, and keyboards, and some old drum machine samples. |
| My Massive Swelling Organ (3.27 MB) |
This came about from my desire to experiment with some church organ sounds. I have always loved the sound and sheer power of a church organ. The choir at the end is all produced from a Mellotron. |
Instruments
I have a collection of instruments of all shapes and sizes. My main instrument is the drum kit, but I also possess two Spanish guitars, a virtual analogue synthesiser, an electric guitar, acoustic guitar, electric bass guitar, bouzouki, mandolin, recorder, harmonica, flageolet, children's zither, and finally a passable (but not very expressive) singing voice.
To date, I have acquired a veritable plethora of musical instruments. Not that I can play many of them very well, you understand, but in the odd flurries of inspiration I have been known to strum the odd chord (usually it is a very odd chord).
Below is a selection of these poor, long-suffering instruments, in no particular order:
Drums and Percussion
Yamaha Birch Custom Absolute Drum Kit |
Roland SPD-S Sampling Drum Module |
Not shown:
- Yamaha Stage Custom Birch drum kit
- Roland TD-5 Electric Drum Kit
- Darabuka (Middle Eastern drum)
- Bongos
- Sundry other bits and things to shake, rattle, roll, or hit
Fretted Instruments
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| Yamaha RGX121S Electric Guitar | Yamaha RBX374 Bass Guitar | Encore ENC44 Acoustic Guitar |
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| Reghin Bouzouki | Encore Falcon Mandolin |
Not shown:
- Kinder-Zither, children's zither (made in the former East Germany).
Very nice sound. Will get round to using it on a recording one of these days.
To date I have used the RGX121S electric guitar, RBX374 bass guitar, and mandolin on actual recordings; the first two on my ever-expanding and incoherent solo project, and the mandolin on a few tracks by BAiT.
Keyboard Instruments
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| Roland PK-5 Midi trigger foot pedals | Yamaha AN1X Virtual Analogue Synthesiser |
Recent Blog Entries
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Well, quite an eventful last few days have passed. I was down in Cheltenham last Wednesday for a business meeting, which was actually quite productive and interesting. I decided, despite the very cold weather, to go down on the motorbike. … Continue reading
13/02/2012
Exit Stage Left
After thirty-one years’ playing and around 500 gigs with various bands, I took the decision on Saturday to ‘hang up my drumsticks’ indefinitely. I will be playing as drummer for the Ministry of Beaver until the end of June (unless … Continue reading
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