The work continues

Ahhh...what a great feeling! We are in the midst of rehearsals for our new CD and are currently working on our 37 minute epic, "The Discoverie of Witchcraft". We have been approaching it section by section (essentially 4 long convoluted instrumental variations of a signature riff, and 3 pastoral sections with vocals and 4-part keyboards), and are at the 28 minute mark. I am happy that the band has the discipline and the motivation to tackle something this unwieldy (and so easily denigrated!), but not only have we sunk our collective teeth into it, we are having a blast doing it.

We only have one section left and one other tune to do and we can hit the studio running. Aaron has a knee operation in January so we will record about 3/4 of the album before then and the remaining sections after he is back on his feet again. Our target date to record is January 4-14th.

On others fronts, Francis Dupuis is doing a great job putting our design together. At this rate we will have a package ready to go by the spring!

Sessions

Well right now the band is slogging through rehearsals getting prepared for our studio dates. We have all the material for the album written and most of it arranged and well-rehearsed. Aaron has knee surgery soon so we trying to get as much tracked before then as possible.

As before, each member has a keyboard(s) so we have quite a set-up going on at our rehearsal spot (Ange's basement by the by). I thought I'd add some pictures. Ange's set-up is a Yamaha analog synth and a Roland Fantom (both of which are at the bottom right of the picture). Her Selmer Alto and Soprano saxes aren't in the picture.

Behind that is my rig, which consists of an M-Audio Axiom 61 going into a Dell laptop running Live. I use quite a few plug-ins and samples collected from various places but the ones I seem to use the most are Linplug's Albino3, Camel's Cameleon, U-he's Zebra3, G-Force's M-Tron, Mini Monsta and Oddity, and NI's B4. I also use the Live plug-in Sampler (and Simpler) as they are both stellar. Behind that (or to the left of that) I also have an M-Audio Radium 49 going into a Dave Smith Evolver. My Mesa-Boogie MarkIV and Marshall 4x10 are against the wall facing the laptop and Axiom.

Peeking through that is Gary's StudioLogic keyboard controller (nearset the bass neck on the top left). That goes out to a E-MU Vintage Keys rack mount. He also has a Trace-Elliot Viper 6 bass amp, an Ibanex bass (among others, but right there he is on his trusty Ibanez).

It's hard to see from the above picture, but tucked between Gary and Aaron is an Alesis Micron which Aaron uses. Aaron's Rogers kit is to the right of the keyboard. Connecting all of this to the various PAs and amps is a morass of patch cords. Pretty cool actually.

I have met with artist Francis Dupuis who is going to put our package together for us. Aaron is an artist as well, so among the three of us (with some licensed art-work from other sources) we are sussing out the package design quite nicely. All in all things are coming along quite swimmingly.

More news, less whining.

Ok. Desite the last post which, while posted today is actually several months old, the album is already written and is well on the way to being recorded. We have been rehearsing twice a week together as a band and been getting together often in smaller units to work on specific things like vocals and various instrumental sections. The work has been paying off.

We had several live gigs to finish up before we got down to the business of recording. This year has been VERY busy for us with gigs in Toronto, Philadelphia, Quebec City and of course our home town, Ottawa. The last show we did was at The Nuance Art-Rock festival in Toronto. It was a great festival with lots of good people and good bands. We were determined to have a good time so we got there early and watched each band's performance. We were pretty vocal in our support too. That may have been a bad thing though. Because we had driven so far (well Ottawa to Toronto isn't actually all that far, but considering the awe people had there about us driving that far, I guess others think it is) and were so vocal, I am pretty sure the other bands figured we were a desperate wannabe band. As we played after the dinner break (it was an all-day fest) only Wilton and a few of his band-mates actually stuck around. The others, despite polite and unasked for assurances that they would stay, didn't bother. Thanks lads.

Well regardless, we went on and played up a storm. I won't pretend I wasn't disappointed in the other bands (obviously I really was) but the crowd was so friendly and enthusiastic we were more concerned about giving them a good show. We did! The band was well-rehearsed and all of us were ready to rock out. Our stuff ranges from total angular dissonace to some fairly straight-ahead songy-song type tunes so we mixed it up a lot.

Here is a review from the gig itself:

The last band up at the NUANCE festival was 'Rebel Wheel'. I had heard of them, but had I had never heard their music before. I, and all of us, were in for a real treat! Unfortunately, the only flaw in the show was that there was no lighting at all on the stage! I had to check the web site to see what they looked like! Other than that, Rebel Wheel simply blew me away! Intricate melodies weaved through amazing arrangements that soared through the the night! They had a touch of King Crimson with a taste of Mostly Autumn in their sound, and I could give no higher praise. However, they really do have a sound all their own, and they are an absolute delight to listen to! This is what great prog music is; fantastic playing at breakneck speed, with intricate facets of each piece shining like a diamond!

For those who get a chance to see this incredible band live, do not hesitate to do so! They are an absolute delight to watch and listen to. They have a CD out, but you have to order it from the website. It's not available in stores. Stupid stores. A great show, and a great ending to another fantastic NUANCE show. A great thanks to everyone involved, especially Wilton!

Doug LeBlanc "

Thanks Doug. Now to the album.

We have contacted some artists and they along with our own talented artist-in-residence (our drummer Aaron Clark) have agreed to let us use some of their art in our package. We would like to thank amazingly unique clockmaker Roger Wood http://www.klockwerks.com/ for letting us use some images of his work as well as artist Socar Myles for licensing (and selling us) some of her very beautiful art http://www.gorblimey.com/ . The design is still a work in progress, but we are very excited about it and hope to have something to show soon.

We are almost ready to record and intend to use my home studio (a fairly well outfitted one as I am a professional composer and gear slut). There will be a short hiatus throughout as Aaron undergoes knee surgery, but we will probably have everything done by Febuary 2009. We have some amazing musical guests lined up but we won't divulge who they are right now.

Ok. Thats the news and with the exception of some post-gig-fellow-band complaints, no whining.

The MaCullums Don't Build Bungalows

As I have mentioned in prior, now somewhat ancient posts, my band The Rebel Wheel are hard at work writing, arranging and rehearsing music for our 2nd CD for 10T Records. We have decided to name it "We Are In The Time Of Evil Clocks" and plan to feature music that deals loosely with that idea, as well as songs that are inspired by Jonson's "The Discoverie of Witchcraft". So. I'd like to say everything is going swimmingly, but alas, due to the bad habits of my neighbours and their pets I am having serious doubts whether I can get all the material ready in time.

The problem is my neighbours (three in all) have bought dogs for their kids. That really shouldn't be a problem in and of itself, but when the kids in question don't care for their pets and the parents never intended to, you end up with neglected and unnecessarily despised nuisances.

The neighbours who live across the street from me bought a Golden Lab puppy for their daughters. At first they were enamoured and played with it constantly until one fateful day the dog nipped one of them (as puppies are wont to do). From that point on the dog has been put on a leash all day long. That is pretty sad but it is compounded by the fact that the same kids play just out of compass of the leash so the dog goes into loud exasperated barking mode from around 7:30 in the morning until around 7:30 at night, with a couple of breaks through the day when it is put inside. They never walk their dog, they never play with their dog, instead they taunt it and torture it by playing just out of reach of its leash. Yay neighbour # 1.

The neighbours who live several doors down from me also have a dog that no-one walks or plays with. The dog was for their kids who have since moved and gone on to university. In this case the leftover owners don't chain it up, instead they let it run around the neighbourhood. It seems like it prefers my lawn best of all for having its daily dump, but that doesn't really bother me so much as the fact it rips my garbage apart, growls at my kids (when they are in their own yard) and barks and attacks any other dog being walked down the street. Most of the people in my small town are very considerate and walk their animals (and even scoop up the poop) but thanks to the exploits of Maggie (demon bitch dog from hell) they get penalized for it by the inconsiderate ones. Yay neighbour #2.

The people who live just down the street from me have two new small yappy dogs they recently bought for THEIR daughter, and as is the trend hereabouts, that daughter has lost interest in her doggies. So now her puppies are chained up outside and bark continously (at each other, at fate, at everything that bloody well moves). At least the kids don't play in front of them (instead they play street hockey on one of the busiest streets in my admittedly small town...often after dark!). Yay neighbour #3.

So on any given day I might get 1/2 an hour of silence from the dog pack. I tend to write during the night as a result, but then the next day starting at around 7:30 am, I am kept awake by the continous barking. This is not the stuff that good tunes are made of but I trudge on regardless and have written some pretty good pieces. Unfortunately there are far too few.

I should have seen this coming when the vacant property next to me was purchased. There was an existing very small house on it but it was promptly torn down. When the new owner (a direct relative of Neighbour #1) was asked what kind of bungalow they would build there the answer (which has become synonymous in my house for pretentious yuppy bullshit) was:

"bungalow? The MaCullums don't build bungalows!!!"

Indeed they don't. Instead a McMansion was crammed into the small lot and threatens to explode onto my property and the street. Good fences build good neighbours, and so do good manners. This place hasn't got much of either.

The rewards of Sisyphus.

Rolling the rock. Up and up. That's what it feels like sometimes keeping a band together and keeping material flowing, the excitement fresh and the many egos content. It is very tough and very tricky. This time however it seems like an exception to the rule.

The writing for the CD is well over half done; we are resurrecting a couple of old tunes I had written years ago (decades even) along with some brand new ditties fresh off the pencil. Now that the band is a four-piece, it makes a lot of arranging decisions and production directions easier to assess. The problem earlier incarnations of the band had was that often times we would create something in the studio that was almost impossible to re-create live. On the other hand, when we did have a larger ensemble other songs that didn't really require that many people, usually had to be re-arranged.

In this case however, we have found a happy medium in terms of size and have also discovered we have a strong improvisational sense. Often when we rehearse we often let ourselves take some part or section and jam on it. That has yielded some very interesting asides and alternative arrangements.

For example, at our last two gigs (Rosfest after-hours party and Quebec's Ninkasi gig) we brought out a new tune that was only several weeks old. It started life as a gtr-synth ditty (more demoing patches than actual composition) and gradually evolved into a showcase for Ange's vocals and sax. I wrote the basic melody and structure with my gtr-synth (A Brian Moore thingy which can switch from synth to gtr etc.) and my new pedal board (thanks to Rob Dontigny for that) and brought that to the band. We played it through and everyone added elements to their parts. After several rehearsals the tune had transformed into an alternative-indy type song with a Pink Floyd-like vamp. Very interesting.

This actually accented the idea I had had for this album. We are a prog band so it is almost incumbent upon us to have some epic tunes (that and the fact I LIKE epic tunes). I hear a lot of criticisms of "padding" and "lack of discretion" levelled at bands with epic tunes, as if to say that if the band had better chops, editing skills and taste, the tunes wouldn't have been epic but rather a succinct songy-song that actually works, instead of a "cobbled together" sprawling mess. I have read many threads on Progressive Ears that state that an CD with 40 minutes of well written music is better than 70 minutes of good tunes and not-so-good padding.

Well I like songy-songs and I like epics (and I often wonder just how familiar people are with the suite form) so we decided to cater to everyone! What we intend to do is around 40 minutes of songy-songs (and by that I mean non-epic tunes both vocal and instrumental) and then a roughly 30 minute suite (note I say suite and not the popular but ultimately meaningless "epic form"). For people who hate padding they can eject the CD before the big EPIC.
For those who like their CDs packed to the brim they can listen on. Seems fair eh?


So the songy-songs will have a loose relationship to the albums title ("We Are In The Time Of Evil Clocks" in case you've forgotten) and the epic is tentatively titled "The Discovery of Witchcraft". The term is not my own (are any?) rather it is a title of a manifesto written in 1584 by Reginold Scot. I don't know how much actual stuff we'll take from the manisfesto itself (other than the name of course) but along with Scot we do intend to use a lot of verses from Ben Jonson's The Masque of Queens.

I am a HUGE Robertson Davies fan and of course in his book, "A Mixture of Frailties" one of the characters (Giles Revelstoke) is a composer who has a piece that uses Scot and Jonson and is coincidentally called "The Discoverie of Witchcraft". His piece is angular but apparently doesn't use "wrong-note modernism" whereas mine is angular and abounds in it. I use 12 tone rows a lot in this one (although they are far from modern so I suppose only the "wrong-note" aspect is true).

As an aside, I once had an idea to use another Robertson Davies idea; the concept of the Seven Laughters. In The Lyre of Orpheus, the character Maria, while waiting to fall asleep, is worried that her academic prowess is being chipped away by a comfortable marriage. To assuage herself she reviews some of the learning she has acquired. She dredges from her memory a creation myth called The Seven Laughters of God. As she is a Rabelaisan scholar, I thought the Seven Laughters was some monkish writing (obviously I am NOT a Rabelaisan scholar). As it turns out, I am not the only one inspired by Davies, as painter F. Scott Hess has a fairly famous series of paintings called "The Seven Laughters of God" (he doesn't hesitate to credit the idea to Davies and although he gets the right trilogy, he names the wrong book). Apparently it is an Egyptian creation myth. Who knew? (no-one I suspect).

In any event " The Discovery of Witchcraft" is coming along beautifully; the trick is to try and limit myself to something that is playable by four-pieces live, although, like Gentle Giant say, I have no real objections to re-arranging a studio construct for live performances leaving out all the many overdubs and ancillary counter-point parts.

So...with any luck this venture will be something in the nature of a reward for old Sisyphus. When he reaches the peak this time he can sit back and smoke a butt and watch the sunset.

we are in the time of evil clocks

My band The Rebel Wheel, signed a good old fashioned record deal last year with 10T Records. Part of the terms of the deal was to deliver two albums. We delivered the first almost immediately, (having had most of it recorded, mixed and mastered before we even approached the label) and we are just starting work on the second.

I created this account to document the "process", as we are in the primary stages. So far all we have is a title we pinched from a story my 10 year old son wrote called "We Are In The Time Of Evil Clocks". In the original story the hero gets preyed upon by a wi game and an evil clock. After some various travails, the wi game ends up having to work at Wal-mart (hey kids....do all your shopping....AT WAL-MART!!!). Not being a concept album as such, I doubt that our CD will have the same plot lines, but the name is sufficiently intriguing and evocative in and of itself that we decided to use it (with Nick's blessing).

So. We are in the time of evil clocks.