Crushing Krisis

Comic Books, Drag Race, & Life in New Zealand

guitar

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So, i’ve decided it’s nearly impossible to write a good song anymore. To start with, my guitar hates me. Suddenly it’s holding a tune like it never had before, but it’s intonation is all buzzy and weird and it makes me think i need a new bridge/saddle. Meanwhile, to write a good song you need some sort of central phrase or imagery; a song that just starts and ends without saying anything is a boring song. But, do you know how hard it is to come up with that sort of thing without it being contrived? Phrases like “i’ve got you under my skin,” “you don’t make sense,” & “you are in high relief” came to me in sudden golden moments of inspiration that i could never replicate, and they serve as excellent central metaphors for a song. Without such a theme you’d be left with one of those lamely vague DMB songs that just locomotes by sheer force of guitar kinetics before finally collapsing down upon it’s lack of content.

Meanwhile, writing music is something else entirely. I lately have found it much easier to write music after working out lyrics only because none of the music i write is hook-y enough to lead me to generate lyrics for it out of mid air. So, yeah, i have tons of feelings i want to put down on paper, and lots of paper, but it’s just not working out.

https://crushingkrisis.com/2001/01/2058226/

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I just had my first rehearsal for Good Woman of Setzuan, but it was more of an exercise in movement than a practice. We did a lot of walking… i must have walked for nearly twenty minutes, just examining the way i use my weight and how i can shift it to change the look of my character. During the walking our director Bill actually singled out my character as an example of someone who moves in a specific way (not that i was moving that way), so at once i was psyched and a bit intimidated. After the walking we paired off and moved somewhat interpretively to music. My two favourite motions were: 1 – with a new person where i was sort of courting her and we conducted almost the whole thing with eye contact and the tips of our fingers, 2 – with Laurel, where i was tiptoeing around the stage and she was mimicking me carefully, after which we switched roles. The other interesting tid-bit of information came as we discussed some of the production numbers… i innocently asked if Laurel or Ben would be joining into my song and Bill turned to me and said matter-of-factly “No, it’s a solo,” which shut me up pretty fast. I’m not entirely sure if i want to be playing guitar for it or not… as playing guitar tends to lock me into to certain vocal inflections more than singing without it. Either way, i thought it would be nice to combine my voice with that of Ben and/or Laurel (who are the other two characters in the scene), but apparently i have to go it alone.

https://crushingkrisis.com/2001/01/1851038/

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The apartment is like some sort of musical war zone right now… all of my guitars are out and about and the electric’s case is lying open right in front of the bathroom. Meanwhile, the amp has struck out a position exactly in the middle of the floor with it’s cord racing under the coffee table to connect with my bass, which is seated comfortable on the couch. My acoustic is thrown over the other arm of the sofa, and inbetween the two instruments my cd book is flipped open to the Peter Mulvey page. On the coffee table there’s some Bowie cds, my computer speakers, my cd walkman, an Ani DiFranco sheet music book, and a box of guitar picks. One speaker is connected to my computer (another cross-room cord) and the other is plugged into the walkman. My stereo is hovering slightly in front of the door as if anticipating a visitor, and behind it the amp is plugged into the wall (usurping my cd changer for the time being). Only Matt’s 5-string bass has managed to stay safely tucked away in the bedroom, awash in a certain fear that it might be called into action if my attention rests on it for more than a moment. Happily, my bedroom door is closed … there’s a whole other mess in there to deal with.

https://crushingkrisis.com/2000/12/1821009/

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So, now my fingers smell like the dull metal of my guitar strings, and i am in no mood whatsoever to record a Trio. Of course, i’m never in the mood to record one, and that’s sorta the whole point of recording them. But, rest assured i won’t be using too many alternate tunings today… no sir…

https://crushingkrisis.com/2000/12/1820919/

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I never wanna retune my guitar again. Ever. I don’t know what got into me, but last night after i got done chatting with Re i was listening to a solo recording of Peter Mulvey‘s “Grace,” and i suddenly decided that it would be fun to figure out how to play it. Of course, “Grace” occurs in the tuning CFCFAC, while a guitar starts off in EADGBE. So… that took about a half hour in and of itself, and after that i still had to figure out how to play the song. It was here that my semester of aural skills kicked in, and i easily found some basic notes that had been eluding me on all other occasions of toying with the song. However, the problem with Peter Mulvey is often not finding what notes he’s playing, but where he’s playing them. I’m quite sure i nailed down his pattern on the main riff, but past that i have all the right notes in all the wrong places. Compare: me vs. Peter.


Achieving that first relative victory, i decided to move on the the more impossible, “A Better Way to Go,” which i have seen Peter perform live sitting as close as i am to my computer without being able to play it afterwards. Happily, last night was one of my so-called “magic ear” nights, and the song was hardly even a challenge … i got much closer to the actual sound of it than i did on “Grace,” though i can’t hardly play the scales that he uses inbetween chords. Compare: me vs. Peter.


As a result of all of this fooling around, i think my legendary page of obscure guitar chords (Tori, Ani, Mulvey) is going to finally make its appearance on Uprush any day now, with some fun new additions. WheE!

https://crushingkrisis.com/2000/12/1820855/