Author: Don

Tune of the day #136

Luckey Roberts was the first of the Harlem “stride” pianists to record, in 1916. However, the technology of the time wasn’t capable of handling his dynamic playing. He did record again toward the end of his life, after strokes and an automobile accident in which his hands were shattered, and he still sounded pretty good. In his prime he must have been overwhelming.

Fourteen in twenty-eight

If you’re musically-inclined and have wondered if there is a challenge like the (defunct) NaNoWriMo for musicians, there is February Album Writing Month, or “FAWM.” The goal is to write fourteen songs in four weeks. “Song” is broadly defined; it can be anything from an abrupt miniature like Melt-Banana to an inflated prog rock epic. Expertise doesn’t matter — much — and it is possible to get by with just your pocket moloch. How to do it and what to use are discussed here.

I haven’t decided yet if I will join in myself this year. I’ve been trying to get the hang of yet another DAW, Presonus Studio One Fender Studio Pro. While all digital audio workstations do essentially the same thing, each is just different enough that skill with one doesn’t transfer to another.1 If I by the end of January I spend more time writing music than yelling at the computer, I might give it a shot.

Tune of the day #131

Another anime march, but of a very different character then yesterday’s. It’s from the eccentric series Tsuritama, the most approachable show directed by the idiosyncratic Kenji Nakamura. The soundtrack is by the Kuricorder Quartet, who, with a few extra musicians, earlier recorded the music for Azumanga Daioh.