I recently purchased a Digitech GNX3 Guitar Effects pedal with a
built-in digital 8 track recorder. It records each track as a separate WAV file. Then with Cakewalk's Guitar Tracks 2.0, I mixed it down and converted it into
MP3 format.
I composed a piece I entitle: "Spam & Cucumbers".
I did it on two tracks and in one take. So don't mind the blip here or there.
I laid
down the rhythm track with my Gibson-Epiphone G-1275 electric 12 string digitally translated live into an acoustic 12.
The lead track is on the
6 string side of the double-neck and I used a "Double Clean" effect, which gives a nice bloopy bottom tone to the lead.
I wrote the tune as I was
reminiscing about a trip I took in '99 to New Orleans, upon an invitation from my buddy.
I stayed with his wife's sister and brother-in-law's family in an
area of New Orleans, which strikingly resembles Saigon. Store signage, food, the folks. I had a great time.
The Vietnamese are a most gracious people.
Well, as we were chilling out in the Gulf of Mexico, fishing with his brother-in-laws, Chi and Van, the guys brought out cans of Spam and
cucumbers.
I asked: "What exotic dish will you prepare with that?" And they
said: "Oh Mr. Doug, we will have spam, cucumbers on white bread, with a cold beer.
"Mr. Doug"?, I mused. In Vietnamese culture it's the polite form of
referral. So you be addressed as Mr., then your first name."
My buddy,
whom they call "Chu-Ral" which is respect for Uncle Ralph, just shot me a grin,
from under his booney hat, while laid out on an abandoned oil platform, and
said: "Dig in and enjoy."
So I did. And now a newly spawned tradition in
our household has taken hold. Spam & Cucumber on white bread with a cold
beer.
As you listen to the tune, imagine a bunch of guys hanging out at
sunrise on an oil rig platform, boat lashed to a piling, sound of water lapping
up against the side of the boat while fishing for croaker and BSing about how
great it is to relax out in the Gulf Coast.
Let me know what you think of
it. On "Spam & Cucumbers Take Two" , I added a little more sustain and a
touch of chorus and distortion, to get longer and higher bends and a few off
tone riffs.
Please scroll down to the bottom of the page in order to listen to the MP3's
Peace,
Doug
Da Bug
A third piece I wrote is entitled "A Ballad of Beckisms". An easy ballad played on my Surf Green Jeff Beck Signature Stratocaster, it's a short tune, where I use a few techniques to mimic Beck's style. It was done on the first cut, so there is a need to refine and re-record the piece. I wanted to get down the guitar phrasing and ballad rhythm first. The rhythm track is played on the Strat, through the Digitech GNX3 pedal using an acoustic six string effect with a slight amount of chorus. The lead recorded on the second track, uses a "mo slide" effect from the GNX3 pedal which accounts for the smooth sustain. A slight use of the vibrato bar added to the flow. The entire piece was finger picked.
The next piece I wrote I entitled: "A Melancholy Remark".
.
A pensive tune played on my Surf Green Jeff Beck Signature Stratocaster through the Digitech GNX3 with "CLEAN ACOUSTIC EFFECT", I recorded it in one take and 4 tracks (stereo)
2 for the rhythm and 2 for the melody. It was inspired by friend, artist and guitar player, Wayne Thiel, whose arppegiated chord runs and melodies rise and ebb throughout his playing with graceful fluidity.
To hear Wayne's compositions please visit his site at:
.
Please visit My Whole Note Home Page