--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Sunday
- 4/30/06
Piuma Road, Santa Monica Mountains
National Park,
CA
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3rd Movement
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After a good night's rest at Herb and Katherine's, and complimentary breakfast, I thanked them and headed off on my next adventure. I proceeded to drive back east toward my apartment in Los Angeles with a quick stop on the way, which I was alluding to in the second movement of my "Improvivaldi" three part series. I wanted to set up VSO at a scenic locale in the area to play some orchestral interludes by myself in the beauty of the Santa Monica mountain range.
A few days prior, on the way up to retrieve my equipment from Herb and Katherine's house (as I went home the night before to do some things)(and yes, I left my equipment at their house, which I assure you was a safe location) I stopped at the Santa Monica mountains national park ViSitOr's center on Lynn road to inquire about playing outdoors in the mountains within the park.
The park ranger behind the desk was most helpful. I told him all about the VSO, and my desire to play outdoors, and he looked up the rules and regulations regarding such an inquiry. After looking it up we found out that there were no regulations about performing music other than regulations against drawing an audience and/or charging a fee. The only stipulation that applied to me was the noise level, which couldn't exceed 80 decibels. The park ranger was really helpful, and took the time to answer my questions fully. He even showed me some places on the map of the park that he thought may be good locales for my venture.
I ended up going to the area in the center circled in red. He said
there was an overlook
on a bend in the road here with a parking area suitable for setting up the
VSO. He said it should be pretty quiet up there, without too many people
coming by to distract me. I thanked him and headed out of the building
with a bounce in my step.
The only complaint I had about the visitor's center was the stairs.
They were angled, and extremely difficult to traverse. I
can't imagine a senior citizen
attempting to go down these steps, as they were most awkward to walk on even for me.
Before I went up Piuma road to perform I stopped
in a small valley to take a couple pictures of the area.
There was another small ranger station, or more accurately, an entry gate, where I asked if I was on the right track to Piuma Road. I knew right where I was going for once, but I asked anyway. I stopped mainly to get pictures of the clouds flowing majestically over the mountaintop.
Little did I know I was headed right for that very spot.
I took a panoramic of the whole valley as it was so nice
(click here or on thumbnail to view image)
After heading out of the park area in the valley, I headed due south another mille to Piuma road which let up and through the mountain range. It wound back and forth climbing forever upwards toward my destination. There were many motorcycles buzzing by and they were a welcome sound to my ears. They were having a ball winding around the smooth mountain passes. I do miss my own motorcycle left back in MA. The bikes went by every once in awhile and didn't bother me too much. Except one guy on a Harley with what I considered to have "no pipes" as opposed to "half pipes" as the thing was beligger-rant-ly loud. I went past a few parking areas at lower altitudes on the mountain, but I wanted the full magilla so I kept driving until I found the perfect spot only a few hundred feet from the top of the mountain range. This was ideal as the clouds totally enveloped the mountains a short distance from my chosen location, and if I had gone any higher I would have been playing in a total fog with zero visibility. Now that I think about it that would be an interesting setting. Maybe I'll try it next time. Anyway, I got to my parking area and positioned my truck for optimal viewing pleasure in the small lot at the overlook which even had a robotic trash can
This somehow fit the general aura which ensued at the overlook
The racks just fit using the wheeled dolly's to span the
wheel wells in my
truck, allowing the racks to fit side by side. Of this idea, I am most
proud.
The roll of velcro pointed out with the arrow is there because I needed to adhere my switch boxes upside down, which caused the cords to be in the way. Normally they are mounted to the plumbing pipe in front of me in my normal configuration. I tried to clamp them to my trailer hitch, which would have been a funny pic, but the clamp was too small. This forced me to come up with the another alternative using the velcro tape. Next time I will bring scissors to cut a piece of tape off. In this instance I simply un-ravel-ed as much as I needed and rolled up the rest.
This is the rear of the racks inside my truck
as they're arranged for outdoor performance
The batteries (not pictured) were causing an overwhelming ground hum in the system. Miraculously there is no trace of the hum in the recordings, which leaves me a little confused. If anyone has thoughts on this please let me know. When I was at the 3rd Street Promenade, dealing with circus folk, I bumped into a pair of musicians I didn't mention earlier because I was so enraged. These two talked to me for a few minutes after seeing my huge pile of gear. They asked what it was and one of them told me he was a synth keyboard player, the other one just stood there and smiled. After giving them business cards with the picture of the VSO on the back they were even more anxious to converse. They asked about my power supply/batteries and informed me that a regular power inverter isn't the best tool for the job of powering music gear and informed me that sine wave power inverters were much better. They told me that these are more expensive than traditional power inverters, but provide a better flow of electricity. If anyone has input on this let me know, it was news to me. I think they were right. Toward the end of my performance on the mountain, the Digitech 2101 was feeling the effects
(My analog guitar preamp, and main midi switching station incorporating the paired footpedal)
The Digitech unit was apparently the most sensitive to it's power requirements, and was shutting down every 20 seconds or so. I assume due to tarnished incoming power. This has happened in the past (remember Maura's party AC/DCF?) I'm not sure how to proceed. I don't want to ruin any of my gear, but at the same time, am quite hooked on playing outdoors. I have a custom fabricated "ground stake" to plunge into the ground and attach to my power inverter that I forgot to bring, this may eliminate the ground hum, but I don't think this will help with my overall power situation.
I set up my typical arrangement for outdoor performance in about 45 minutes.
all the while being watched by the R2esque trash receptacle
I had the Mackie's facing upward in front, and behind me.
I did this to ensure it wouldn't be too loud in the valley below. I'm pretty sure I exceeded the 80 decibel sound limit, but the nearest house was a quarter mile away, and no one was around. I'm sure the sound didn't make it to anyone's ears besides my own...and perhaps God's
This was the scene in my frontal view
This awe inspiring sight was to my right
The passing clouds were funneling down the
mountainside on this mostly clear, sunlit day.
Below is a panoramic image of the setting. I was delighted to learn that inserting the panoramic image didn't ruin the center alignment of the rest of the page as I thought it would. Scroll to the right to view the entire image. For the full effect, listen to the MP3 downloads of the improvised orchestrations I played off the side of the mountain. They are below, and will be elaborated on toward the end of the page in the new bit's and piece's section.
VSO - Overlooked Overture
(click here or on image to view thumbnail)
The incessant wind was blowing sand and debris onto my
pedalboard from under my truck, which left me petrified.
I hastily set up the plywood board which I usually use
as the base of my VSO rig to
block the ensuing sandstorm, I didn't need the plywood in this particular setup
configuration.
This worked pretty well, but as you can see, despite my
efforts,
by the time I finished, it had quite the sand dunes forming on it.
I figured this couldn't be very good for the electronic
switches in the footpedal,
so I decided to pack it up after only an hour of playing. It was getting
cold too.
Overall it was a great experience, and I am pleased with
the
few "songs" that were a result of my mountain performance.
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VSO Bit's & Pieces
Overlooked Overture, Time - 2:08
This was one of the first pieces I played. The two recordings preceding this one were plagued with the inevitable stops and starts adjusting levels and settings. This piece is a little sloppy, but has since inspired an original orchestral composition, which is surprisingly something I haven't done too much of in the past. The technique of spontaneous improvisation inevitably gives birth to parts and sections I wouldn't have come up with otherwise. At times I'm not sure what will happen when I do certain descents and progressions, or where they'll end up. At the beginning I was searching for a suitable key, and did a descent which I thought was decent, and wandered itself into the high strings, and pulsating signature arco violin part. (Time index 0:40) It took me a second to decide where it would go (0:47) At first I wasn't happy with the change at (0:57) as it initially didn't seem to fit, and I meant to hit the pedal next to the one I played. Because of the nature of the "pure" timbres involved, a "mistake" on my part could be considered a mistake, but also as dissonance. The same dissonant notes played by say, a garage band, would sound awful. Because of the pure tones emulated from the synths, such unplanned transitions are often able to be pulled off, and provide movement within the piece. Time index (1:09) shows another example of a mishap which worked out in the long run. I've heard it said, and agree that a lot of music depends on the notes immediately following, Quoted from the Phil Lesh audio book as best I can without having to search for the exact words- "In music there are no mistakes, only correct notes positioned incorrectly", or something to that effect. This is mind-bogglingly true.
Lone Voices, Time - 3:28
This piece somewhat reminded me of the theme to the film Cast Away. A lonely oboe calling out across the expanse, longing to be heard. This piece also displays my timbre switching technique within the chord families, which will be elaborated on some more below.
Lost Solo, Time - 1:39
This experimental piece I played trying to be led blindly through the varying chord families while playing solo accompaniment. I switched randomly and had no idea where the progression was headed. It all seemed to come together at time index (0:44) where it was unraveled again in the following measures. This technique I hope to implement for audience participation in the future. In theory I could hand my switch boxes over to someone else, and have them control the chord family variations. Empowering them to "compose" on the fly, and collaborate in the flow of the performance. This has been attempted before with positive results. At the end of the piece, I switched from strings to basses in a call/answer section before finally landing on the woodwinds which finish the progression.
Clouds Below, Time - 4:29
This piece is the song of the day, and another example showcasing my new string section patch, of which I am growing quite fond. The pure timbres generated by the Roland XV Strings Ensemble card really are a notch above the prior JV series expansion module samples. The string card is certainly lush, but I wish they would come out with an entire orchestral ensemble card in XV format similar to the JV80-02 Orchestral, or SRJV-16 Orchestral ll, not that I could really afford to buy it. I am pleased with my focus on dynamics, and volume swells in this piece (i.e. time index 1:44), especially since seeing Belgian Brother No. 3's first movements. I am still plagued with unwanted switching nuances () due to memory lapse within the synth. The only way I've found to correct this problem (besides extremely careful timing during switching), is not using as many parts, which belay the synthesizers. This is something I'm not prepared to do.
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The following is a short demo of the timbre changing technique I use on the footpedals. By using a midi program change switch, I was able to switch patch timbres within a performance bank on top of the same chord families to represent different orchestra sections, i.e. strings, horns, woodwinds, basses
I have been having a problem with the input of my GK-2A pickup and the adjoining 13 pin cable which attaches to it. When I move the pickup or cord it generates erroneous note messages. It isn't a huge problem, but I have a feeling it may get worse before it gets better. Demo clip below.
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Lessons Learned
1) Always bring scissors, and the necessary other tools to get the job done. Including, but not limited to: 1/4" headphone adapter, wire cutter, zip ties, electrical tape, and the ground stake with A1.
2) Don't be encased by that which binds you.
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VSO - Clouds Below
Original Improvised Instrumental
This piece is my favorite from my performance atop my mountain perch. It is elaborated on in the preceding "Bit's and Piece's" section
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Donations welcome