MORNING
Wow, I watched a documentary of the desertification and sandstorm problem in China. I did not know people can freeze to death in the middle of the storm when temperatures can hit 50 below. Or that a quarter of all of China is already desert. If you’d like, watch China’s Raging Sands. Beijing is getting ten or more episodes per year, where they were once unheard of. And they’ve pumped out most of the good groundwater.
Nope, that is not a photo of my stockpile. That is just the Carnation supply now that we occasionally practice music here. Trent likes Carnation. It has been eleven years since this kind of cold, and like Seattle near the ocean, it is a biting and bitter cold. So forget the cool morning, I’m going out for a hot sit-down breakfast. You can always tell a successful musician (locally successful, of course). He has no qualms getting used to spending all his tip money on a great meal.
And that’s what I did, up to Agt. M to tell him if he wanted eats, get over to Senor Café within the half-hour. He didn’t show, so I assumed he had enough food, ha-ha, and helped myself to a four egg omelet, Texas-size. I thought about doing something today, but my decision is to stay put and read and think and play music. And tell myself things could have turned out a lot worse.
That’s why I’ll also spend a few hours on the sidecar electrical system. It is exhibiting a low volt condition even with the new 625 cranking amp battery. Unless I have a bad battery, but that’s unlikely. Plus, I built a couple of transistor circuits that are not behaving. Do I go to the movies or work the transistors? The movies available this week are pretty lousy. Check back later.
NOON
The decision is stay in all day. I know a lot of guys who will tell you after they bought their own house, they never had a day off. That’s not me, I need to get inspired to do yard work or any type of domestic chores except painting, which I happen to like. It reminds me of Judy Minty, who I also happen to like. Even after the sun arrived, the air stayed crispy. Even though I don’t like cold, I have no trouble working in it.
I tackled the Honda electrical and now that I’ve learned to make lugs, I’ll upgrade what’s there. It probably looked like I just sat there staring at the bike most of the afternoon, but I was planning and figuring. I finally got the kitchen mostly cleaned up too, it is so hot in there in the summer as the only room I have with no A/C unit. Things tend to get left alone and pile up. But my next place, that will be fully climate controlled for comfort.
Let’s see. Blog rules say I have to report extremes, so what was new or different about today, which was not exciting. That’s a tough rule, because when I’m taking it easy, there are no extremes. Did I ever define what I mean by that, blog-wise? It means I’m supposed to record anything that I do that is described by a superlative. If I did the most difficult calculation today, it would be in the blog, but so would the most boring person, if I met them today. (Limited to one or two items on most days.)
This policy also shows that, despite being a creature of habit, I rarely do the same things two days in a row. What was different today? I’m reading another detective crime novel, something about an unsolved murder back in the 70s. Seems I recall the incident, some rich kid killed the neighbor’s daughter with a golf club and his parents stalled the police for twenty years. Something like that. Anyway, it is a true story and I’ll get you the book report if it turns out worth reading.
NIGHT
Duo rehearsal. Trent was over and we plowed into our old song list. If we do this, we have an instantly successful little arrangement, but let’s talk bands for a bit so nobody gets discouraged at our plodding pace. First, starting a band is 90% of the work, and we are starting from scratch—playing what neither of us has done before. Music is only one of the challenges.
Another caution is that you cannot possibly tell how long a band startup process will take because the better the product, the more the learning curve is monstrously uneven. Bands that have a smooth curve tend to sound unoriginal and I don’t know why. Trent is not only learning a new instrument, he’s starting right off with many techniques that were years in the making. These means learning a lot that is not in the books and in most, not just a few but most, instances, it is contrary to how guitar is played.
So I’m not counting songs, I’m watching how well we can put theory into practice. If you allow for his guitar background getting in the way, we pretty much have a sound already. I’ve seen this before. If he knuckles down and gets over that barrier, there will be a quantum leap. So don’t be counting songs at this juncture.
The tough part is, I think, is that many of my techniques are best learned in isolation but then they must be strung together to play a song. We discovered something unusual, maybe even original, during this process. It is a facet of music I don’t recall ever having heard before. Two bassists playing different parts as accompaniment. This is tricky to describe.
That flies in the face of the “bass is easy” gang, since all two-note progressions should sound the same. How could I best describe this? Okay, think of the many times you’ve heard two excellent guitar players play old Eagles music. It sounds best when each player does his part right. Well, Trent and I are producing a similar effect on bass.
I’ve never heard two bassists jamming before like this. Here is the best I can describe this accidental discovery. I had been swapping back and forth between the bass and the guitar as we learned passages. I play two distinct types of bass, a “rhythm” type behind the vocals and a “lead” type that spices up dead spots. Of course, Trent likes the “lead” style, who wouldn’t.
Then, lazy me, instead of reaching for the acoustic, I kept on with the rhythm bass. Wow, it sounds like “dueling bassists”, you gotta hear this. Anyway, back when on the guitar, I’m getting a taste of my own medicine. I’ve bragged how I can make bad guitar players sound better. Now I’m the bad guitar player and Trent, even as a beginner, is propping me up. I never thought that would ever happen, someone using my own sound back at me. The effect is innovative. As soon as he gets his guitar fingers untangled, we’ll move rapidly along. The question is always time. Since I missed the opportunity as a child, I never had time to "get good" as a working adult. You just don't have the required 10,000 hours. Unless you have no life, but if you choose that route, it doesn't matter how good you get.
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