NPR is cool sometimes. Videos like this are why.
Will Cady's Ego
Musician, Artist, Writer
Tagged with video …
Turning an Upright Bass Into a Sound Factory
I spend a lot of my time working with effects and finding new ways to manipulate my bass sound digitally but when it comes to recording, I really value taking time to produce organic sounds to create a sonic landscape (this is what we were really going for with ‘Animals‘. A tip of the hat to Diego Stocco for what he’s done to his upright bass in this video! Keep watching through to the end, because the sounds really start to come together to make a nice sonic texture.
The Books
Last night, I met with The Books for a private show they put on at the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University. I came by for their sound check to meet and talk with them a bit about Source Audio’s Hot-Hand motion-controlled effect which seems to have caught their eye a bit. Our plan is to experiment with the Hot-Hand on the cello, which is pretty exciting! We won’t know until we try. After all, the proof is in the pudding.
I stuck around for the show and as I expected, it was one of the most penetrating musical experiences of my life. Their aleatoric approach to music and video communicates deep truths through displaying the startling alignments found in randomness and nature. This, The Books’ method, bridges the gap between the worlds of fine art, music and science so well that it feels they have extracted the most crystalline, powerful aspects of each.
The communicating force of their music and video is entirely passed on material ranging from sound clips of Albert Einstein ruminating about Ghandi to passages from existential authors to found video footage from years spent rummaging through thrift stores. When it’s all combined it becomes clear that the number one interest of The Books is you. More specifically, the most deep, inner, personal part of your self.
It is my belief that they call themselves “The Books” because in the words of their tour manager, Brendon Downey, “they are a sonic library of all humanity”. They are a musical representation of the world of knowledge contained on library shelves. In placing dusty, ancient wisdom alongside sleek modern concepts, The Books are speaking to and of the lineage of art that began with the first word ever spoken and ends at the exhalation of your next breath.
The first link here is to some live footage of them and the second is a video straight off of their DVD. There is plenty of content available online for you to explore. If you really want to experience The Books, I recommend buying their CD or DVD of videos and spending time with them alone. They may prove to be the launching pad and soundtrack to your endless exploration of your self.
Getting Funky at Bass Player Live 2009
I was recently hired at a company called Source Audio just north of Boston. They’ve brought me in as a bass player to help them design and implement an entire line of bass effects pedals. Pretty damn righteous. It’s amazing to have a job that pays me for doing what I love.
The first week of my job, the shipped me off to Los Angeles with my bass to Bass Player Live. Amazing. In the video below, I am showcasing one of their best effects, a motion-controlled effect called the “Hot-Hand”. The Hot-Hand is a motion-sensing ring that wirelessly manipulates a wah, phaser, flanger or even MIDI output. In this video, I am using it on the wah. Let me know what you think!
There will be plenty more videos to come since part of my job is getting as funky as humanly possible with their effects and recording the results.
Find out more about Source Audio at their website: www.sourceaudio.net
The Help at the House of Blues
Today, I found this video today of us playing “Radioactive” at the House of Blues a couple months back. Live Nation and all of their venues (including HoB) are really militant about preventing fan recording at their shows so cheers to the person who pulled this off! Hope they don’t take it down…
Why I love space: HUGE EXPLOSIONS
Check out this video/image sequence taken from the International Space Station as it flew 220 miles aboove the eruption of Sarychev Peak on the island of Matua. Bad. ass.
