the world is a very stange place in terms of earning money. but it's like everything. if you were born with the idea that you want to be rich and money is all you want, you'll make money. many a folk here have that mindset only directed towards music. the thing is music enlightens your soul and money doesn't. and it is a far far nobler goal to strive towards.
in terms of skill, i don't view thing is the same way many of you do, but that's only my thing. i know brilliant people with serious degrees who are in the shithouse. i'm making more money right now than basically any of my friends at a lifespan from 18-50 years old and have a relatively comfortable life and am still being able to buy what i need and have time to make music, so i can't complaint too much. i have a roof above my head, i'm doing what i truly want to do, though slowly, and i eat well every single day of my life and i only finished highschool, that's my education right there. that means i'm among the 20% of the richest people on earth, and that is something i should cherish more than i do when i think about it.
imagine... you're a doctor now and you make a shitload of money. what about in 5-15 years when you take a shit in your toilet and the toilet itself diagnoses you automatically of any illness and tells you what you need to do. this is not science fiction, it is coming soon. probably the doctors who i work with right now are gonna be in the shithouse doing mundane jobs and maybe will be doing worse than me and you, you know? this sort of changes are going to be happening at a lightning speed from now on, who is to tell you're not the one whose gonna be successful in a few years from now doing something you love? just keep on being fucking awesome and doing whatever you love, ma niggas.
I've only taken a handful of lesson when I was a teenager, just enough to learn some open chords, barre-chords and some different stum patterns. After that I just started writing my own stuff. I literally don't know a single cover song and I've never learned a complete song other than my own. Over the years I've picked up some theory though...I use it whenever I feel like I'm having some writers block. Learning intervals is 90% of the game though. A few weeks back I made a nice little chart of keys and each mode so that once I pick a key for a song, I can look up unusual chord voicing in my chord app that fit the key so I can easily tell if it's got a minor 7 or a diminished 5, that sort of thing. It doesn't help me write songs so much as fine tune them once I've gotten the basic bones. Lately I've been improvising lots of stuff and you've just got to throw theory out the window otherwise you'll be thinking instead of playing and feeling....if you've don't got the ear, theory won't help you. My bass player of a million years has a classical background, perfect pitch and tons of theory knowledge and I'm usually the one that ends up writing stuff. He improvises over what I'm playing though and it has always worked out. I don't think that worrying about theory will take away your ability to write, I've heard a lot of people think that it'll spoil their natural spark but I just don't see how that would be possible.
I'm with you on the cover song bit. I just don't care to really learn what other people are really doing. I mean -- maybe I'll learn a couple of licks or riffs or whatever but I'm generally just happy to be writing my own riffs. I write like a frickin' weirdo usually. I play what feels right. If it sounds off I find something different. I understand some things and sometimes I look something up but I don't feel like I'm required to be knee deep in theory-snatch to play guitar.
apparently Beneath Oblivion was robbed last night in Little Rock. here's their gear if you happen to come across it
"Attention Little Rock: our trailer was stolen last night with all of our gear at a Holiday Inn. Please keep an eye out for these custom 6x12 cabs, Peavey 5150, Laney GHL 100, Eden WT500 with Furman power conditioner in an SKB case along with our Premiere APK 5 piece with a PDP black snare, Tama hardware, SKB cases, and Sherwood hardware case. We also had a white Squire P bass, white Fender Tele, Warwick Corvette standard with passive pickups, Gibson Les Paul Studio, Black Ibanez, all our merch, an SWR bass head with with power conditioner and rack tuner in an SKB case."
I love playing other people's music. Sit on the couch and jam out to the first 5 or so sabbath albums, holy mountain, maiden, Motörhead, Johnny Winter, James gang, some randy Rhodes era Ozzy even though it's hard work...
Makes it easier to have a music player that can pitch shift the tunes to match the guitar instead of retuning all the time.
It took me about 20 years to figure and then to actually accept what my personal sound and voice is on the guitar and then to then embrace it. I can't even think in terms of covers other than to just completely play over them and do my own thing. I know a lot of people learn that way and I would probably be a better player for it if I did learn that way because then I could get a better understanding of comparative song structures but it's just not in my spirit. I feel like I'm dying when I start reverting to generic blues riffs or chord progressions. I'm not saying I'm any good but I'm finally comfortable being me and diving further into that rather than trying to avoid it like I did for so many years. I wish I could be more playful with music and just screw around with songs I like to listen to but I just can't...at least not yet.
On a side note...I'm looking to get my Sunn Beta Lead and Concert Slave rehoused into the same head. Anyone know of anybody that might be able to do that for me? I want a nice, portable one shop, stop loud as hell, backup amp rig I can easily take to shows and cover myself or my bass player if one of our amps goes down.
resincum wrote:apparently Beneath Oblivion was robbed last night in Little Rock. here's their gear if you happen to come across it
"Attention Little Rock: our trailer was stolen last night with all of our gear at a Holiday Inn. Please keep an eye out for these custom 6x12 cabs, Peavey 5150, Laney GHL 100, Eden WT500 with Furman power conditioner in an SKB case along with our Premiere APK 5 piece with a PDP black snare, Tama hardware, SKB cases, and Sherwood hardware case. We also had a white Squire P bass, white Fender Tele, Warwick Corvette standard with passive pickups, Gibson Les Paul Studio, Black Ibanez, all our merch, an SWR bass head with with power conditioner and rack tuner in an SKB case."
resincum wrote:apparently Beneath Oblivion was robbed last night in Little Rock. here's their gear if you happen to come across it
"Attention Little Rock: our trailer was stolen last night with all of our gear at a Holiday Inn. Please keep an eye out for these custom 6x12 cabs, Peavey 5150, Laney GHL 100, Eden WT500 with Furman power conditioner in an SKB case along with our Premiere APK 5 piece with a PDP black snare, Tama hardware, SKB cases, and Sherwood hardware case. We also had a white Squire P bass, white Fender Tele, Warwick Corvette standard with passive pickups, Gibson Les Paul Studio, Black Ibanez, all our merch, an SWR bass head with with power conditioner and rack tuner in an SKB case."
trailers are so convenient but easy as shit to steal and normally everything you own is in it wether its your music gear or construction biz in one fell swoop your whole deal is gone take one of the tires off that thng at night especially if your on the road at least let the air out of them wrap that fucker in chains park it in front of the holiday inn under the lights not in back by the pool and the dumpsters i wouldn't be able to sleep knowing my life was in a box outside a band with 3-4 guys could do 2 hour watches but this is com in from the comfort of my couch i haven't been on the road for a month its just a shame hearing about this shit
hide a burner phone in a fake reverb tank or jack plate thing the cabs are prob the last thing to go they'll be in one of the douchebags basements or at least someone he knows their not gonna move those things locally for a few weeks and bring a tazer or bear spray for fun
louderthangod wrote:On a side note...I'm looking to get my Sunn Beta Lead and Concert Slave rehoused into the same head. Anyone know of anybody that might be able to do that for me? I want a nice, portable one shop, stop loud as hell, backup amp rig I can easily take to shows and cover myself or my bass player if one of our amps goes down.
*cough cough*
Yea I've never been one for covers either. When I've looked at tabs for other people's songs, it's literally up on the computer and I run through the song on guitar looking at the tabs and that's it. Nothing to commit to memory. Basically just like Oh so that's how X was done or Y. I did that with some Cannibal Corpse songs when I was younger and Dillinger Escape Plan later on. I was always in the boat of I rather devote that time into writing my own songs.
louderthangod wrote:On a side note...I'm looking to get my Sunn Beta Lead and Concert Slave rehoused into the same head. Anyone know of anybody that might be able to do that for me? I want a nice, portable one shop, stop loud as hell, backup amp rig I can easily take to shows and cover myself or my bass player if one of our amps goes down.
*cough cough*
Yea I've never been one for covers either. When I've looked at tabs for other people's songs, it's literally up on the computer and I run through the song on guitar looking at the tabs and that's it. Nothing to commit to memory. Basically just like Oh so that's how X was done or Y. I did that with some Cannibal Corpse songs when I was younger and Dillinger Escape Plan later on. I was always in the boat of I rather devote that time into writing my own songs.
I'm a big fan of covers, but most of the time this is what I do too. It's a good way to step out of your comfort zone and look at something from a different perspective.
Oh I don't mark anyone for doing them. It's just never been super interesting to me. Though lately while I was spending so much time out of town they were since I couldn't actively record anything. I don't like writing anything unless I plan on recording it in the next couple of days.
