Sunday, 28 November 2010
Banging your heart against some mad buggers wall
Hey Empire!
As you've probably heard in me rambling in the above video, we hit 500 views last week, how about that, and now, we are inching gradually closer to 600, it's phenomenal to see that we have readers not only here in the UK, but in the US, Russia, United Arab Emirates, even Vietnam we have a couple of readers! I am truly astounded by how many people have stuck with this blog and continued to read it, so thank you all very very much!
In this blog, I'm gonna tackle an issue I've wanted to tackle, but haven't tackled directly.
Do guitars have their own personalities?
My answer is a solid yes, each of my guitars put's me in a different state of mind, for instance, If I play my Buckethead Les Paul Custom, I'm more ready to do big stretches, multiple finger tapping and make good use of the arcade button killswitches, but then if I play my Epiphone SG400 Custom, I augment my playing to suit it's darker sound, because I find it's more often suited to 70's classic/prog rock, which is great for those vintage tones, so it's all about what you want to play, the way I see it is, If I've hit a wall in terms of coming up with riffs, song ideas etc, then, I whip out another guitar, and suddenly the ideas flow like Niagara Falls, like yesterday, after a long long time, I switched to my Tokai Telecaster, the ruiner of my collection, but I plug it in, the strap low-slung, suddenly I'm whacking out some new riffs and stuff, it's a fantastic thing that, sure physically they are just pieces of wood with bits and pieces attached, but it's more, each makes an impression on the player, and I like that...yeah.
Hey, did y'all catch this week's Black Friday sale on Xbox Live? slam the door and call me Ted! some of the deals on there were a steal! For Around 9 I picked up some great games! GTA: San Andreas, Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter, 'Splosion Man, were just some of the games on offer, along with Tropico 3 & Silent Hill Homecoming, AND Need For Speed : Hot Pursuit & Assassins Creed: Brotherhood still to complete, I won't be without games for a while! hopefully until Duke Nukem Forever
I can't remember how many of you exactly voted on the Band Name Poll last week but here are the results
Release The Kraken! (50%)
Calculon (40%)
The Walsall Box Company (10%)
Were still discussing options...Alas, I've got alot of bastard-big ideas, I hope with the others' co-operation, I can put them into motion, I want to see this one through, after all these years, I want this one to work, I know music is my calling, because everyday I get in at least an hours guitar practice, It's something that I've put first for a long time, I love music, I hope with JB & CJH's help, I can take this band further than any other, It's when I'm at my happiest, and when I can forget about all my health issues and just let go...
Anyhow, just a shorty this time rabble, I'll write another later in the week!
Ring-A-Ding Baby!
LRC
Sunday, 21 November 2010
Mixing the bitter, with the sweet
Wotcha Blog-readers!
Welcome to another edition of my blog, let's try and get back on track here, I've got the night free, and there's alot to fill you all in on, which is a change, life has been somewhat, turbulent for me healthwise, I'm at around 75-80% at the moment, I'm still recovering from a seizure I had a fortnight ago, however, I refuse to let it hold me back, so i've been giving life both barrels, and just doing things the way I want them to be done.
First off, in the last post, I talked about meeting up with some Facebook Friends of mine, Maccie & Kay, and last wednesday, I met up with those two, and two more, Tommy & Husted, we went to see Jackass 3D, and we ended up in The Imperial afterwards, I tell you something, I had a right laugh with these guys, sadly Husted had to leave before we hit the pub, but either way, I really enjoyed just having a laugh with these guys, what really touched me, is that they all said to me, in plain english that they had been wanting to meet me for a long time, and that it was such a pleasure to do so, and at that statement alone, I felt incredibly humbled, that again, with this group of people whom I'd conversed with only on Facebook, Xbox Live & MSN, I'd only really just met in the flesh, I'd gelled with them so well, and we all seemed to laugh and joke as if we'd known each other for a long time, so thank you all for a superb day out, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and we must do it again sometime.
Now at times, my state of mind can really knock my confidence, but when I take a step back and say, "Hang on, look at this, you've got all these friends you had before, you've stumbled upon these equally awesome new friends, and they really like you for who you are (most of the time)". It's a real boost for confidence, and at times it's what I need, I think we all do, It's great to be surrounded my such great people, so I can only hope I can continue to do so!
Onto the next topic my new band, which is yet to be named!
Last night, we had practice, and we whacked out 2 brand new tracks, which quite frankly came from just ideas I had knocking around upstairs, I threw them out, and I'll say this, they really kicked, it's really intense stuff that just grabbed me straight off, and even CJ said to me that he thinks this is some of the best stuff we've ever done, opposed to Crashpoint's Post-Punk/Rock vibe, this is more Avant-Garde/Stoner rock, which is sounding ruddy superb, I'm awfuly glad to say that Crashpoint is well and truly behind us now, I love the vibes of this band, I'm loving the spontaneity of the whole thing, and what were turning into songs seems to be these vast sounding songs for just a 3 piece band...
Alas, we have no singer yet, nor a name, I'm adding a poll to the top of the page this week for the band name choices we have on the cards right now, I think for now, were hoping to god that 2011, could be our year, and the positions that we are all in seem to point in the direction that we can get there, if we really work our arses off for it, and I'm willing to, we've hit that creative nerve, it's converting the blood flow into a listenable structure, and the material is malleable enough to do so, fingers crossed guys!
anyway, I've been doing a lot of chopping & changing this week with my rig, starting by putting some fresh .9 Gauge strings on the Gibson Les Paul Buckethead Signature guitar.
I've been rubbing fast-fret on them (stuff of witchcraft which makes your strings feel like new) before and after I play it, and I'm finding .9's much easier to play, so they may well be my string of choice for the future!
in other news, the EHX Big Muff has been demoted, and the Dunlop Crybaby Wah has been plonked in it's correct place, I'm really loving my tone at the moment, I can't wait for the day I can put recordings on a flash player on here!
On that note, I think that's me about done for now, I'm gonna go and tuck into my lasagna, note for the arseholes who have been hate-mailing me below!
Thanks for reading!
Ring-a-ding, baby!
Luke
NOTICE: On a serious note, that I very rarely take here on LCB, I've been getting a lot of harsh criticisms, in terms of what I write about my gear, claiming that I boast about what I have, that I continue to rub it in and be 'smug' as one reader put it, let it be made perfectly clear right here, for the last 6-7+ years I've been playing guitar, I'll be honest, my family have never been fortunate, it wasn't until I got a job and started earning my own money that I was able to get out there and start upgrading all of my guitar equipment, I've brought everything I own, with my own hard earned wonga and I'll be brutally honest here, I'm very proud of it all, it's all stuff I've worked hard for, that I'm passionate about. When I open up the cases & bags, and plug in, or clap eyes on any of my gear, I'm the happiest man on the planet.
For a second time, I'll be brutally honest, I don't take kindly to being insulted, over what honestly seems to be petty jealousy or general ass-hattery, and 9 times out of 10, I'm bigger than you, and can probably bugger you with a buggering stick, these messages I received not only upset and angered me, but also disappointed me, if you intend to carry on I can go about getting you blocked from this page, and associating with me in every way except from face-to-face, where I prefer to hear my criticisms, got it?
Welcome to another edition of my blog, let's try and get back on track here, I've got the night free, and there's alot to fill you all in on, which is a change, life has been somewhat, turbulent for me healthwise, I'm at around 75-80% at the moment, I'm still recovering from a seizure I had a fortnight ago, however, I refuse to let it hold me back, so i've been giving life both barrels, and just doing things the way I want them to be done.
First off, in the last post, I talked about meeting up with some Facebook Friends of mine, Maccie & Kay, and last wednesday, I met up with those two, and two more, Tommy & Husted, we went to see Jackass 3D, and we ended up in The Imperial afterwards, I tell you something, I had a right laugh with these guys, sadly Husted had to leave before we hit the pub, but either way, I really enjoyed just having a laugh with these guys, what really touched me, is that they all said to me, in plain english that they had been wanting to meet me for a long time, and that it was such a pleasure to do so, and at that statement alone, I felt incredibly humbled, that again, with this group of people whom I'd conversed with only on Facebook, Xbox Live & MSN, I'd only really just met in the flesh, I'd gelled with them so well, and we all seemed to laugh and joke as if we'd known each other for a long time, so thank you all for a superb day out, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and we must do it again sometime.
Now at times, my state of mind can really knock my confidence, but when I take a step back and say, "Hang on, look at this, you've got all these friends you had before, you've stumbled upon these equally awesome new friends, and they really like you for who you are (most of the time)". It's a real boost for confidence, and at times it's what I need, I think we all do, It's great to be surrounded my such great people, so I can only hope I can continue to do so!
Onto the next topic my new band, which is yet to be named!
Last night, we had practice, and we whacked out 2 brand new tracks, which quite frankly came from just ideas I had knocking around upstairs, I threw them out, and I'll say this, they really kicked, it's really intense stuff that just grabbed me straight off, and even CJ said to me that he thinks this is some of the best stuff we've ever done, opposed to Crashpoint's Post-Punk/Rock vibe, this is more Avant-Garde/Stoner rock, which is sounding ruddy superb, I'm awfuly glad to say that Crashpoint is well and truly behind us now, I love the vibes of this band, I'm loving the spontaneity of the whole thing, and what were turning into songs seems to be these vast sounding songs for just a 3 piece band...
Alas, we have no singer yet, nor a name, I'm adding a poll to the top of the page this week for the band name choices we have on the cards right now, I think for now, were hoping to god that 2011, could be our year, and the positions that we are all in seem to point in the direction that we can get there, if we really work our arses off for it, and I'm willing to, we've hit that creative nerve, it's converting the blood flow into a listenable structure, and the material is malleable enough to do so, fingers crossed guys!
anyway, I've been doing a lot of chopping & changing this week with my rig, starting by putting some fresh .9 Gauge strings on the Gibson Les Paul Buckethead Signature guitar.
I've been rubbing fast-fret on them (stuff of witchcraft which makes your strings feel like new) before and after I play it, and I'm finding .9's much easier to play, so they may well be my string of choice for the future!
in other news, the EHX Big Muff has been demoted, and the Dunlop Crybaby Wah has been plonked in it's correct place, I'm really loving my tone at the moment, I can't wait for the day I can put recordings on a flash player on here!
On that note, I think that's me about done for now, I'm gonna go and tuck into my lasagna, note for the arseholes who have been hate-mailing me below!
Thanks for reading!
Ring-a-ding, baby!
Luke
NOTICE: On a serious note, that I very rarely take here on LCB, I've been getting a lot of harsh criticisms, in terms of what I write about my gear, claiming that I boast about what I have, that I continue to rub it in and be 'smug' as one reader put it, let it be made perfectly clear right here, for the last 6-7+ years I've been playing guitar, I'll be honest, my family have never been fortunate, it wasn't until I got a job and started earning my own money that I was able to get out there and start upgrading all of my guitar equipment, I've brought everything I own, with my own hard earned wonga and I'll be brutally honest here, I'm very proud of it all, it's all stuff I've worked hard for, that I'm passionate about. When I open up the cases & bags, and plug in, or clap eyes on any of my gear, I'm the happiest man on the planet.
For a second time, I'll be brutally honest, I don't take kindly to being insulted, over what honestly seems to be petty jealousy or general ass-hattery, and 9 times out of 10, I'm bigger than you, and can probably bugger you with a buggering stick, these messages I received not only upset and angered me, but also disappointed me, if you intend to carry on I can go about getting you blocked from this page, and associating with me in every way except from face-to-face, where I prefer to hear my criticisms, got it?
Monday, 15 November 2010
Wotcha!
Hey Empire
Welcome to another edition of my blog. we're nearly at 500 views now, and I'm getting a lot of great feedback, I'm loving it all and I appreciate each one of you that comes back to read my crap!
Now hey hey hey, Pie & Mash, the new band kicked off a week or so ago, and the week just gone, one of my solo pieces made the grade and it's pretty much our first track, but I'm really feeling the vibe, Jay's got a really ferocious playing style, I've sort of moved on to a point where I can do bits and dabs of everything, CJ seems to be in his element too, being able to put drums to nie-on everything we jam, so it's sounding pretty cool, alas, were in need of a name, me & Jay have thought of "Release The Kraken!!" (Exclamation marks COMPLETELY neccesary) or "Calculon!"
"You dig?"
So yeah, great news this week, I did what a few years back society would have classed as taboo, I... "Met someone from the internet."
"NOM"
Yeah, I hooked up in town with Maccie, who I know from Xbox Live, and Kay, a friend from Facebook, laughs were had, and the weather stayed relatively nice for us, it was nice to get out and meet some new people, safe to say, we'll be meeting up again soon, this Wednesday actually, to go and see Jackass 3D, with Maccie, Kay, Tommy & Husted, which should be a laugh! Look forward to it, They're genuinely great people, easy to talk to, easy to get on with, and they're all blog readers! Wotcha!
Onto a revelation I had at last practice when I blew up an all valve 100w Marshall, I REALLY love my current guitar tone, and before I was a tad hesitant to buy the Line 6 DL4 Behemoth, because I heard it really sucked the tone of your rig, but quite opposite, the lush subtle tape delay I have on, that trails away after my notes, or the percussive rhythm delay, all of it sounds utterly brilliant, I love my sound and I think the guys in the band do too, I've certainly evolved as a player, yet I don't forget about the stuff which springboarded me, U2 stuff mainly, because I still to this day love the sounds The Edge gets out of his immense set up, and I'll never forget the hours I spent perfecting his sound with my budget rig, because it's helped me to develop the sound I have now, which I love to bits, onwards and upwards, to 6 finger tapping!
Now you're here, I need you to me and some of my mates a favour, below, I've posted a couple of clickable doowhatsits for you to be clicking, they're links to two of my closest friends blogs', they've just started up, my mate Rob (The Indifference Gamer) and Chris (8-Bits Of Retro) are new to the game, and where as I'm not so much a seasoned veteran of the blogging world, if you follow me, follow them, they're great, and they intend to keep their shit updated!
Just a short blog anyway this time around!
Wotcha!
LRC
Clickety Click! Up high for Rob's Indifferent outlook on today's video game news Below for Chris' Flick through the history books of gaming
Welcome to another edition of my blog. we're nearly at 500 views now, and I'm getting a lot of great feedback, I'm loving it all and I appreciate each one of you that comes back to read my crap!
Now hey hey hey, Pie & Mash, the new band kicked off a week or so ago, and the week just gone, one of my solo pieces made the grade and it's pretty much our first track, but I'm really feeling the vibe, Jay's got a really ferocious playing style, I've sort of moved on to a point where I can do bits and dabs of everything, CJ seems to be in his element too, being able to put drums to nie-on everything we jam, so it's sounding pretty cool, alas, were in need of a name, me & Jay have thought of "Release The Kraken!!" (Exclamation marks COMPLETELY neccesary) or "Calculon!"
"You dig?" So yeah, great news this week, I did what a few years back society would have classed as taboo, I... "Met someone from the internet."
"NOM"
Yeah, I hooked up in town with Maccie, who I know from Xbox Live, and Kay, a friend from Facebook, laughs were had, and the weather stayed relatively nice for us, it was nice to get out and meet some new people, safe to say, we'll be meeting up again soon, this Wednesday actually, to go and see Jackass 3D, with Maccie, Kay, Tommy & Husted, which should be a laugh! Look forward to it, They're genuinely great people, easy to talk to, easy to get on with, and they're all blog readers! Wotcha!
Onto a revelation I had at last practice when I blew up an all valve 100w Marshall, I REALLY love my current guitar tone, and before I was a tad hesitant to buy the Line 6 DL4 Behemoth, because I heard it really sucked the tone of your rig, but quite opposite, the lush subtle tape delay I have on, that trails away after my notes, or the percussive rhythm delay, all of it sounds utterly brilliant, I love my sound and I think the guys in the band do too, I've certainly evolved as a player, yet I don't forget about the stuff which springboarded me, U2 stuff mainly, because I still to this day love the sounds The Edge gets out of his immense set up, and I'll never forget the hours I spent perfecting his sound with my budget rig, because it's helped me to develop the sound I have now, which I love to bits, onwards and upwards, to 6 finger tapping!
Now you're here, I need you to me and some of my mates a favour, below, I've posted a couple of clickable doowhatsits for you to be clicking, they're links to two of my closest friends blogs', they've just started up, my mate Rob (The Indifference Gamer) and Chris (8-Bits Of Retro) are new to the game, and where as I'm not so much a seasoned veteran of the blogging world, if you follow me, follow them, they're great, and they intend to keep their shit updated!
Just a short blog anyway this time around!
Wotcha!
LRC
Clickety Click! Up high for Rob's Indifferent outlook on today's video game news Below for Chris' Flick through the history books of gamingWednesday, 10 November 2010
30!
Hey Everyone, and welcome to my 30th Blog!
That's right, Thirty blogs ago today, I revived my blog here on Blogger, which was for the best, because MySpace was taking a dive with the uprising of Facebook, it also gave me that sense of a fresh start which I desperately needed, so thanks you lot, thanks readers new and old for sticking with me, for sticking with this Blog, it may not be all bells and whistles, but I try to give you something different to read here and there, so this is essentially a big big thank you to everyone who's followed over the last couple of years, silently sharing my thoughts...
You're diamond, the lot of you...
Keep chasing that dream.
Your Pal
Luke Raymond Clarke
That's right, Thirty blogs ago today, I revived my blog here on Blogger, which was for the best, because MySpace was taking a dive with the uprising of Facebook, it also gave me that sense of a fresh start which I desperately needed, so thanks you lot, thanks readers new and old for sticking with me, for sticking with this Blog, it may not be all bells and whistles, but I try to give you something different to read here and there, so this is essentially a big big thank you to everyone who's followed over the last couple of years, silently sharing my thoughts...
You're diamond, the lot of you...
Keep chasing that dream.
Your Pal
Luke Raymond Clarke
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