Japan 1

What a day!  We started off by visiting Nijo castle.  It was Shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa's Kyoto residence.  The surrounding garden was breathtaking.  I can't even do it justice if I try to describe it.  The castle itself was really cool.  The Shogun's security system was pretty awesome. The floors deliberately make noise when you walk on them.  They're call nightingale floors because they squeak like birds.  it actually works surprisingly well.

 

The Heian shrine was also a highlight.  The garden was gorgeous. Each sectioned was a picturesque backdrop for a samurai movie.  We felt like we were walking through a video game.

 

The most amazing part of the day was getting to sit in at an Iaido class in this giant budo hall attached to the Heian shrine.  The sensei was incredible.  He also gave us a quick sword lesson and even let Steve hold his sword!  A local Japanese man who was translating for us told us what a rare honor this was.  The sensei and all of his students were very friendly, but also very skilled and deadly.  They wielded the swords as if they were weightless.  It was beautiful to watch.

 

We're having no trouble getting around or communicating. The people here are very friendly.  We were also lucky to have good weather all day.

There are lots of Tsunami warnings on the news, but think that's going to be hitting Kyoto, so there's no need  to worry for the time being.

We're off to a sit on the floor kaiseki dinner now.  I'll write again when I can,

-Richie

whatever

This is the last day of my 20s.  It's both awesome and awful at the same time.  It's a strange feeling.  Anyway, here's some stuff that's on my mind.

 

1.  AT&T commercials.  These are probably the worst commercials I've ever seen.  As a verizon customer, they actual anger me and make me hate AT&T.  Before, I had no hatred for them, I was just a customer of a different provider, now I hate them because they're telling me I'm stupid.  I'm naive for believing that Verizon has better coverage.  I'm uncool for using a droid instead of an iPhone, and I'm utterly crippled by the fact that I can't talk on the phone and surf on the web simultaneously.  Now, I'm not really a Verizon fanboy, but these Luke Wilson commercials are really going to turn me into one.  Whoever is coming up with these ads is ridiculous.

 

2.  Downsizing.  As my 30s approach, it's time to make a few changes to the gear situation.  I having my rack with me on gigs, but after tonight's gig at the red lion, I think I really need to consider going a lot smaller.  I'll keep the rack setup for gigs where I can actually get use out of it, but I need to rethink everything.  I don't know if the answer is going back to a combo, or maybe doing something like a floor pod.  I gotta make some changes.  I'm tired of carrying all this crap with me.  My current rig is 2 racks, 2 bags, and a cabinet.  Other guys bring and amp and a guitar.  I used to do that.  It was cool, but I got caught up in effects and advanced switching.  I actually have a lot of fun trying to nail the sounds I hear on records or in my head.  It's probably my favorite thing about playing live.  But tonight for example, my foot controller broke, and I couldn't do squat with my rig.  It still sounded good, but I couldn't switch channels or add effects.  It was just frustrating to think that I lugged all that gear around and I couldn't even really use it.   I will be getting an alternate rig with smaller and lighter gear, very soon.  When I figure out what that rig is, I will post it online.

 

3.  Earplugs.  I have ear plugs. I put them in my ears. I sing 2 notes and take them out. It's bad. I get really angry with myself for not keeping them in.  On BOC gigs, I have in ear monitors.  Those are amazing.  They're like ear plugs with a little audio added inside for the stuff that the ear plugs cut out.  I have a choice to make.  Wear earplugs on every gig, or bring in ears to every gig.  It seems like ear plugs are the inexpensive and sensible solution, but I'll probably end up using the in ears on every gig.  I'm an idiot.

 

4. Star Trek Online.  Ann Marie got me Star Trek Online. It's a massively multiplayer online roleplaying game (MMORPG.)  I used to play these kinds of games a lot, but I stopped when I realized it was getting out of hand.  After a day of playing this game, I have that fuzzy feeling like someone just draped a warm and soft blanket over you.  I swear that these MMORPGs stimulate a different part of the brain than other games.  I can play Grand Theft Auto for an hour and be satisfied, but this game is different.  After 4 hours of an MMORPG, you just want to play more and more.  They are definitely addicting.  My dad plays an MMORPG for at least 6 hours a day, every day.

 

Going to bed now.

good night,

-Richie

Saturday in Staten Island

I had a great time on Saturday.  We played a Hit Me With It gig at the Dugout in Staten Island.  It was Ann Marie Nacchio, Andy Ascolese, Chris Kuffner and me.  It was great to hear Chris play again.  We had a lot of fun.

I know that lately, Staten Island has been the punchline of every east coast guido joke in mainstream media, but I gotta say that I definitely saw another side of my beloved hometown on Saturday.  It was getting late and I looked out into crowd and saw nothing but talented people.  Every person in the audience was a badass.  We were playing the song "I Wish" by Stevie Wonder and we were jamming on the Ebm7 to Ab7.  Chris just played a fantastic bass solo and then I decided to try a little audience participation.  I had a wireless on my guitar.  I went out into the crowd, and started handing the guitar around.  Everyone who played took a great solo.  Not good...great.  No one did a few stock licks, they were all hitting chord tones while playing amazing rhythmic stuff.  I just thought to myself, "Where else can this happen?"  Sure, Staten Island has its fair share of Jersey Shore cast members, (I have no problem with them) but it also has a wealth of great talent, and that often gets overshadowed by the stereotypes. This isn't a complaint, it's an observation.

By the way, I'm now referring to my belly as "The Situation."  Time to fill "The Situation" with some pizza.

-Richie

NAMM Day 4

I heard Rivera amps today. I thought they were very good. To my ears it sounded like a fender with modern attitude. The EQ worked well and there was plenty of gain.

I checked out Melodyne again. It was supposed to be released around the last NAMM show but it just came out in November, so I guess it still counts a new product. Melodyne is mind blowing! You can edit polyphonic audio files. If you play a chord on guitar, you can edit the individual notes of the chord. You can edit time pitch and vibrato. It's awesome.

I saw a neat double bass drum pedal called Dualist. It's one pedal that has 2 beaters. When you release the pedal the 2nd beater hits. Sure, it's like cheating, but I'm a crappy drummer and have no problem cheating.

I looked at a small 8 input soundcraft mixer that looked good. It was surprisingly small considering the amount of features it has. It looks like it might be a good move for live pa on a bar gig.

I wish I could write something about guitars, but I feel like most of the guitars I looked at were way overpriced. I don't really feel comfortable paying over 3 grand for a guitar, so I don't think I'll mention those companies, even though they had some nice stuff. I did order another music man. You can beat their quality and price.

I had a very good show overall. I got hooked up with some great companies and I can honestly say that I've never seen so many giant breasts in one place in my entire life! It was very hard to stay focused, but I was able to work through it.

-Richie

NAMM Day 3

I listened to a lot of amps today. The 1 watt Bugera was pretty cool. It sounded like a loud amp but at a low volume.

Blackstar amps were also really good sounding. They had a great tonal quality, and nice gain.

I went back to ENGL for the 9th time today and tried out their 1 rack space tube preamp. It was amazing like everything else they make. I spoke to the guys from the company, and I have a feeling that I will soon be an ENGL endorsee.

Voodoo labs makes a box that will use midi program changes to switch channels or any other 1/4 inch relay switch. It's awesome.

I played a cool bass ukulele that was one of the most fun instruments to play.

Peterson has a guitar (and a bass) to midi box that is monophonic. It's very small and works well.

I was invited to play at a jam tonight with Chris Slade, Alan White, Liberty Devito, Jimy Sohns, and more. It was a lot of fun.

-Richie

NAMM day 2

I spent most of the day rehearsing for Icons of Rock Jam, but I did get a little browsing in.

Jamlink is a little box that allows you jam with other musicians over the internet in real time. I jammed with someone in San Francisco while I was 400 miles away in Anaheim. There was a slight latency, but it wasn't enough to be disruptive. Supposedly, you can link up with relatively low latency up to 500 miles away. It was pretty cool, and opens up some interesting possibilities.

I played a funky Lakland bass with a short scale. It had a crazy retro look to it and played really well.

I saw an amazing presentation by Rudy Sarzo on how to make 3d videos in Sony Vegas. It's really easy to do and I plan on experimenting with it when I get home.

More to come tomorrow!
-Richie

NAMM Day 1

I saw a lot of cool stuff today. As usual, I was most impressed by TC electronic. Their new polyphonic tuner pedal is great. You strum all of your strings at once and it gives you 6 LEDs that meter all 6 strings simultaneously. Awesome. Their nova delay pedal is also amazing.

Engl amps are fucking amazing. I need to get one. It's not capabable of getting a bad sound. All their stuff is also midi controllable which I love! I loved their 4 channel head and the combo too.

Music Man had a good showing. The dual humbucker Albert Lee is really nice. It sounds great. I really like the new 5 string Big Al bass. It has guitar-player friendly string spacing. If I was doing more bass gigs, I'd probably jump at it. I got my eye on a few things from Music Man.

The new soft synth player from Muse is really nice. I think I will have to convince BOC to buy it. It holds software plugins and it's only about the size of a lunch box. Very cool.

I'm a bit jetlagged, and overwhelmed from the first day, so I'm having a little trouble remembering some of the stuff I saw.

More to come tomorrow,
-Richie