Bompf Bompf Baby!

So I’ve finally been able to get my own computer. The computer itself is at the moment not the greatest quality, but it is conveniently a laptop, and therefore all my work, and everything else goes with me wherever I go.

When I first received the computer, the first thing I wanted to do was just to get it up and running. So I decided that since I didn’t want to be playing around at first, I thought to myself, “Well, I’ll just quickly load Windows on to it, and do the Linux thing later”. Boy was I ever misleading myself.

The set up alone for Windows Home Edition took me over an hour, and then right afterwords, none of the hardware seemed to work. It wasn’t reading my USB ports, and CDs and DVDs weren’t working. Not to mention the headphone output, the LAN input and the wireless weren’t working. Then I realized, Windows didn’t even recognize that the computer was a laptop.

So, trying not to give up hope, I called my Dad.

“Alex, I have no idea about Windows, but Linux I can work with”, were the first words out of his mouth.

“Alright”, I replied, “I’ll try that Kubuntu disk that you gave me”. So I did just that. Within 25 minutes, I had Kubuntu up and running on my laptop. And it recognized that the computer was a laptop. The next test would be to test the LAN input. Once the cable was plugged in, I opened up Konqueror and typed in the URL for Google, and there it was. By the point of me writting this, I know for a fact that the DVD player works, that the speakers can be connected to it and work, I can play my music trouble-free, and my USB ports work. The only thing that I haven’t figured out is the wireless as of yet.

So, to anybody running Windows because they don’t want to take the time to learn a new operating system, that doesn’t fly with me. After spending a little bit of time on Linux, you get the hang of it. Not to mention that I can guarantee you’ll have less problems as far as your computer freezing goes, and it looks great. There are distributions of Linux (like Ubuntu, which I am running a version of) that are extremely user friendly, and more customizable than Windows.

Officially, I’ve decided to leave Windows for good, and spend the extra time learning to use Linux, and finding the programs that I need instead of resorting back to Windows. Now I’m not saying that I’m a Linux genius (as of yet), and I’m sure there will be times I am annoyed with it, but that’s basically the same with anything.

As most are aware, my band, Wise, Young and King, has been spending some time in the studio. We are creating a piece of work that we can be proud of, and that others can enjoy. At this point, we have now used 19 of our 25 hours, and have completed one track totally, and have yet to record the vocals for the three other tracks. We decided on four songs, focusing on quality as opposed to quantity. We divided our time up to this point, into four separate days. Enjoy!

Day 1 (Fri., Jan. 5): As usual, the band rushed around trying to get things ready for the last minute. We were booked at the studio for 7pm. By 5 that evening we were still moving stuff around (mainly returning a drum kit I had borrowed to rehearse with) and running out the door. After making a few stops on the way, we managed to arrive around 7:30. We had a quick discussion with Steve (our Engineer/Producer) about what we were going to do, and then it was set up time.

The drum set that I was using was a Sonor Force 3005. It is 100% maple, and is a very respectable kit. The shell sizes were; 20″x17.5″ Kick, 10″x9″ tom, 12″x10″ tom, 14″x12″ tom and 14″x5″ snare. We took the resonant head off of the bass drum (kick) so that it would have more attack. (In a live setting like a show, you would leave the “reso” head on in order for “low-end” and volume to prevail.) The cymbals that I used were all Sabian AA series, and although would not be the cymbals I use next time, they sound just fine. Again with the details; I used 14″ high-hats, 16″ and 18″ crashes, a 20″ ride and a 10″ splash. Every individual drum and cymbal had its own mic (not sure of the make or model of any of these) and then two overhead mics. Once everything was ready to go, including Jimmy’s bass, it was time to get down to business.

We started recording our first track (and I have decided that I will not release the names of the individual track, I will simply refer to them as “track 1″, “track 2″ etc.) and really found out the difference between “live off the floor” recording and “track recording”. At this point, the major stress began.

When you record live off the floor, you are all playing at the same time, and you all know where to go by reading the other musicians. When you are “tracking”, you record each individual instrument seperately. So knowing your songs, including lyrics, temo changes and everything else is key. Not to mention, your skills are tested when the click track is added in, which is basically just that. It’s a click that goes off on every beat, helping to keep the tempo of the song. If you go off, it will throw everybody off when they go to “dub” their parts over top of the drum track. When you are playing together, you can always see each other and you can feel if they are speeding up, or slowing down. I had never played with a click track previous to this, and lets say that I really wish I had lots and lots of experience with it, as it took me take after take to finally get one song with the click done. The drums and bass were recorded at the same time, so that added another dimention onto this type of recording. It’s hard enough to try alone, let alone keep another guy on time as well. With the bass and drums for track one out of the way, it was on to track two.

On this song, Doug played bass. We went without the click track from here on, and it took less time to get down. Lets just say if we were trying to use a click on all the rest of the tracks, then we’d still be on track two. After getting this song’s rythm section done, we decided to try one more track. However, after trying and trying to get the parts done, we scraped this tune, and decided that what we had was a good start on the cd. By this time it was around 1am, and I headed to Myles’ (guitarist) house for the night. 

Day 2 (Sat., Jan, 6): I woke up around 1 in the afternoon, and Myles was at work. So I just decided to watch some TV to pass the time. When Myles got home, we headed to Jimmy’s house for a quick gathering. Again, we were scheduled to be in the studio at 7pm again, and left Jimmy’s around 6:20.

Once in the studio, we listened to what we had accomplished yesterday, and I decided that as far as drums go, the first track was definately not up to par. So, back Jimmy and I went and re-recorded it. Again, after a few takes, I was quite happy with what had come out. For the second track, Doug thought that the bass line could have been better, so he just redid that, and left the drum track, as it was fine. Then we decided to get guitar tracks done for the two songs, and went on with that. The first track went over without a hitch. (Keeping in mind that these things take time. So as far as being quick is concerned, if you can get a part down in an hour and a half or less, you are doing alright.)

The second track took more time, as Jimmy was the lead guitarist for this song, and had to record the solo a few times in order for it to turn out the way he wanted. In the end he came up and proved himself worthy of the name, “Jimmy King” and recorded an amazing solo, that I think will make people really listen. From there it was time to lay down the rythm section for the third song.

This song was a new one to me. I had only played it a few times before, and always liked it, but didn’t really like all the drum parts that I thought of at the time. So, I decided to take some time to get something down that I thought did the song justice. In the end, what I came up with was something that I thuroughly enjoyed, and that I thought fit the song extrememly well. Once this was done, it was time to retire for the night. We stayed in the studio until aproximately 2am, so we were all very tired. Not to mention with time passing and getting used up, the pressure was begining to build and at points the frusteration level was quite high. Then next days break was being looked forward too.

Day 3 (Mon., Jan 8 ): With the bass and drum tracks needing to be done for only one song, the first order of business was to get them out of the way as it would be Jimmy’s last day with us.

This song was brand new material. Just two weeks before, we had begun writting it. Its got a great mix of different musical elements including the heavy sounds of rock, and some almost-funky grooves. Because of the more technical parts of this track, it did take a little bit more time to get it the way we wanted it, but the bass and drum parts sounded great after listening to them.

The second most important thing on the list was to make sure that anything that included Jimmy was done, so on to his vocal parts for one of the other tracks that already had all the instruments recorded. This would fill up the rest of the time we had booked at the studio for the day.

Day 4 (Tues., Jan 9): With all of the rythm parts completely finished, we needed to get the guitars done for the last two songs.

When you are in the studio, after the first day, it is basically a repetitive process. Rythm parts are done first, then guitars are added over top of that, and then vocals are dubbed in. When you get hungry, you walk across the road to the pizza shop. When you arent actually recording a part, you go out for a cigarette. Then you do it all over again. Then again. The most exciting day of being in the studio is definately the first day.

The other thing, is that it feels like you will never finish even one song, because even though your parts are “done”, when you listen to them played back with guitars over top, you start to hear things that could’ve been done better, so back you go to touch certain areas up. When you listen to it again, one of the other members gets an idea for a part they want to fix, and again the cycle goes on.

By the end of day 4, other than those little parts that require touch ups, all the instruments had been completely finished. All that was missing from the songs were vocals and the final mix down of all the songs. We scheduled Thursday, January 18th as the next day that we would be heading into the studio to finish up, but we may need to go in one more time after that. Or more even. We’ll have to see then.

So there you go. Sorry that it took so long, and I apologize if it is a little confusing to read, but I am not the greatest at writting. In the future I’ve decided that I’m going to need to explain more about technical terms as far as audio and drums go, so I was thinking of making up a “key terms” page on the site, that would be constantly updated, as I learn more as well.

And don’t worry, the Drummer of the Month feature is coming soon, but I was having some issues regarding my grandparents and their computer. However I now have my own computer, so I’ll be posting more frequently.

Ok, I lied… I did say that my next post was going to be the first of the ‘Drummer of the Month’ series, but that was before the insanity of recording came up from behind me and gave me a nice heavy whack on the head. Fortunately though, at this current moment I am riding on a cloud and basking in the glory of being in a studio, doing what I love to do and doing it pretty well (or at least so far, I’m liking what I hear). Therefore, I believe a post is in order.

I’m not going to give away too much, but like I previously stated, I do believe that things are coming together nicely. The band has started working together closely, and that has had quite a beneficial effect on our sound as a whole. It’s been a huge learning experience. I have been keeping a log of the days, and comparing the (drastic) differences between the last recording session, and the current multiple recording sessions. When I get more time, possibly tomorrow night, I’ll outline these and write something worth reading. For now though, this is all you get.

First and foremost, Happy New Year! Hope that everybody’s celebrations were safe and fun. I know that I had a great time. Me and some of my close friends decided to head across the boarder to Hull, where we are of legal drinking age. You can just guess what happened next. I also got one hell of a workout, as we had to walk from Ontario to Quebec and back (and by this time, walking was interesting), then from the bus station to where we were staying the night, which happened to be about an hours walk. Definitely a good night.

Also I would just like to inform my (few) readers that Wise, Young and King does now have booked studio time for the 4-6 January. Yes, that is Thursday. I’m extremely excited, and I know that the other band members are as well. Over the few days that we are in, I think that I’ll probably keep a small journal. It wont be big because we are not in for long, but I think that it’ll be neat to look back and see what I was thinking the first time, we took the time to make a proper recording. Don’t get me wrong, the first was good but we recorded “live off the floor” and didn’t have enough time to work with the mix. This time, we are doing fewer songs over a longer time period, and we’ll work more with each individual song, focusing on quality, not quantity.

Also, I was thinking that I wanted to start something kind of different than normal (or at least that is what I was thinking) in the blogging world. I’m going to start doing a “drummer of the month” post, but it’ll only really be based on what I’m kind of into at the time, with no general criteria for now. This all may change, but I just thought that I would start. My next post will be your first “drummer of the month”. So the anticipation begins.

Update: The studio time for the band has been moved to January 5, the 6th and the 7th. If we haven’t used it all by then, the 8th is a day that we could use to finish up all our time.

Alright, so it’s been a few days since I last posted, and seems a bunch of stuff has happened since.

Firstly, Merry belated Christmas to all those that read this. Hope that everybody enjoyed it and got stuffed like turkeys at Christmas (sorry for the bad pun). Mine was excellent. My Dad, and one of the other band members Dad went together to get Wise, Young and King some recording time. Twenty-five hours actually, at Muss Music Productions, which is the same studio that we used previously. So, my first wish from my last post (the meme) has come true. I also got a John Grisham book, a DRUM! Magazine that came with an awesome DVD, and three swing CDs.

Secondly, I was saddened to hear the news of James Browns passing on Christmas day. I am a big fan of some of his music, and he will be remembered.

Thirdly, this is more recent news. Saddam Hussein was hanged early this morning. Unfortunately I haven’t really followed this that much, and all I really know is that he was only convicted of one crime that he committed in 1982. Honestly, that’s all I know.

Well, I know for a first post in a while this one is kind of poor, but I’m also tired and need to get up early tomorrow to get some stuff done. Hopefully, I shall post again soon.

To start, why on Earth are this little games called memes? As my Dad had planned to do, I checked out the definition, and has nothing to do with blogging, but some cultural thing. If you want to check it out for yourself, here you go.

So, three things I want and three I don’t. I’ve never done one of these before, so here goes.

1. I would like for Wise, Young and King to go back into the studio, and get some work done for gods sake while our bassist is back, instead of sitting around and drinking beer constantly. Not that there is anything wrong with drinking beer, but some touch ups on previously recorded stuff, and to record some unheard stuff, would be really awesome.

2. A job. Enough said.

3. And this I’ll put here, because it really is one of the things I would like the most in the entire world right now. I’m dying for a drum set. Not just any drum set, but a set of Ayotte Customs, with wood hoops, and a custom black to green fade, or a custom finish that I would choose if I had more time to think about. Not to mention, if I could stop changing my mind on a day to day basis about the color.

So, three things I do not want…

1. I do not want to have to return the D-Link wireless router that my Grandfather purchased yesterday. We’ve now spent a good part of the day today, and a few hours yesterday trying to get the damn thing to work, to no avail. With it, came a USB antenna thing, that you can apparently plug into any computer. Now, since my computer will be running Linux, I think that I’ll probably either have to get a driver from the internet for it, or it’ll just not work. However, more on that later, because I’ve still got two to go.

2. I do not want to see any quiche over the holidays. Besides, Real Men Don’t Eat Quiche.

3. To have to live with my Grandparents for too much longer. Don’t get me wrong, the are good people with good hearts, and I love them to death, but trying to live with people that you just plain out do not see eye to eye with, is really a challenge and a half.

Hope I did alright on that. As for the next part, to tag 5 other people, well that’ll be another one of those challenges, as I only have one person linked on my blog. That would be my Dad, and he’s already been tagged. Speaking of linking to blogs; Chim, would you mind if I linked to your blog? Just thought that I’d ask before just going ahead and doing it, as I don’t quite know the “rules” of blogging just yet. So, I’ve failed at the second part of this meme. Oh well.

Info from the Ottawa Sun - Today in Toronto, there is set to be the final vote on the 25% MPP pay raise. Yesterdays vote passed 72-8. Only members of the NDP voted against this insane hike in pay.

Now I’m just getting into this kind of stuff, so keep that in mind as you read this, and I’m also interested in what other people have to say. However, it seems odd to me that the people benifiting from the raise, are the people that have the only say in whether it happens or not. Especially, since their sallaries are payed by the taxpayers of Ontario. So, would it not seem fair, for the people paying the MPP’s to have the say in how much they deserve for what they do in Provincial Parliament?

If this vote passes, under Bill 173, the base salary for an MPP would go up $22,004 to $110,775 anually - thats about 75% of a federal MP’s salary. The provincial premier’s pay will be $198,620. Acording to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, the cost of this raise could be close to three million dollars. I wonder where that’s going to come from…

So, I was just listening to Chez 106 and thought I heard that B.B. King, was coming to town. At first I didn’t believe it, so I decided to check the internet. It’s true. B.B. King will be playing at the National Arts Centre, here in Ottawa on May 13. This is another one of those “once in a lifetime” opportunities for me, so I think I’ll be getting tickets for that as soon as they are on sale.

 Just recently, B.B. King was awarded the highest honour a civilian in the United States can recieve. The Presidential Medal of Freedom.

From the President:

“One of America’s unique gifts to the world is a music called the blues. And in that music two names are paramount — B.B. King, and his guitar, Lucille. (Laughter.) It has been said that when John Lennon was asked to name his great ambition, he said, “to play the guitar like B.B. King.” Many musicians have had that same goal, but nobody has ever been able to match the skill, or copy the sound of The King of the Blues.

He came up the hard way in the Deep South; living alone when he was nine years old; walking miles to school, and picking cotton for 35 cents a day. Barely out of his teens, he made his first trip to Memphis, Tennessee, with his guitar and $2.50 in his pocket. He made his name on Beale Street, and his studio recordings made him a national favorite. B.B. King has sold more than 40 million records. He won 14 Grammys. He has a place on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He’s influenced generations of musicians from blues to rock, and he’s performed in venues from roadside nightclubs to Carnegie Hall. He’s still touring, and he’s still recording, and he’s still singing, and he’s still playing the blues better than anybody else. In other words: The thrill is not gone. (Laughter.)

America loves the music of B.B. King, and America loves the man, himself. Congratulations. (Applause.)”

You can read about the other Recipients of this award here. 

I am quite surprised and excited that B.B. King would be stopping here in Ottawa again. I’ve said this previously, but this probably will be the last time that he’ll play here. Other show dates can be found at this link.

As of today, dairy farmer Michael Schmidt ended his four week hunger strike, in which he lost 50 pounds. He was presented with food baskets from Toronto chefs. For those just tuning in now, here is the lowdown.

On November 21, Glencolton Farms was raided by armed Ministry of Natural Resources officers, who provided search warrants for the farm, and did not allow “the Blue Bus” to leave the farm in order to deliver fresh farm milk, to people who had chosen to buy shares in Michaels cows. Michaels hunger strike was in protest of the laws regarding the selling and consumption of raw, unpasteurized milk. Here is a fact for you, according to CBC News, Ontario Finance Minister Greg Sorbara’s family owns shares in Michael Schmidt’s farm.

In my opinion, the only person that should be able to decide what you can and can’t consume as far as food and beverage (or anything else for that matter), should be yourself. If I would prefer to drink raw milk, then I should be allowed to drink raw milk, if I do so choose. As a matter of fact, if it were available to me to purchase, I would not buy processed milk, because I know for a fact that I enjoy fresh milk much more than the watered down version you buy in the store. For the last two years, when I would visit my friends farm, one of the best part about getting up in the morning for breakfast was the cold fresh milk. It was much more satisfying.

As far as taking an action towards supporting Michael Schmidt and his fight for the freedom to choose raw milk, or processed milk, I may consider the same sort of idea as my Dad on this one, and will start to try and think of new other ways as well.

Welcome to bompfbompf.com. My name is Alex Scott, and much to the dismay of some, I am Ian’s son.

For the first little while of getting this blog going, when you visit you may find that the presentation has changed slightly from the previous time you visited, or even drastically. This will stop once I’ve managed to figure out exactly how I want it to look, but that may take some time as I am new to using WordPress, and will need to “play” with it for a while.

As for explaining the URL, Bompf Bompf is a name of one of the songs my band wrote. I am the drummer in Wise, Young and King. If you would like to check out the seven tracks that we have recorded, they are posted on my dads blog, and you can click here. They can also be found at the bands myspace acount.

Well, that will be all for now folks, but there will be lots more in the future.