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Brian,
Thank you again for your kind words. I'm glad you like my piano, rhythm and
bass work, though I must say, Karen, Ferenc and Johnny make it sound so much
better live!
The album is getting some notice in the jewish community. We've gotten
reviews from some jewish newspapers and magazines, and the blessings of
Rabbi Nachum Shifren, aka "The Surfing Rabbi." We've got distribution
through Tara Publications/JewishMusic.com, who gets our CD into judaica
shops and online stores. In the secular non-surf world, San Francisco's
KPIX/CBS-TV has filmed a segment on us that will be aired in November, and
should be streaming on their website soon after broadcast. It's a shtick
record, both in concept and artwork (thanks Ferenc!), and that helps it
stand out.
Klezmer is a musical style that developed in the Ashkenazi Jewish
communities of Europe. The music of the Sephardic Jews (from North Africa
and the Middle East) reflects the influences of those regions, both in style
and instrumentation. A good starting place for info on Klezmer is Ari
Davidow's klezmer shack:
Mel
-----Original Message-----
From: Brian Neal [mailto:]
Sent: Tuesday, July 29, 2003 8:46 PM
To:
Subject: [SurfGuitar101] Re: Meshugga Beach Party featured on cdbaby.com
Mel,
Thanks for the fascinating insight into MBP!
The only critical thing I can say about MBP is that it does sound
like one guy playing all the parts, as you mention. However, you do
such a good job, this is a minor criticism. I thought the piano, the
ska-like (klezmer?) rhythm parts, and the bass work were outstanding.
I hope this disc reaches a wider audience than the surf scene. What
is the reaction been from the Jewish community? Can you sell that
disc in other outlets besides the typical music store? A Jewish book
store for example?
Again, thanks for the great work. I'm breaking out the guitar this
weekend to cop some licks from it.
You'll have to give me the scoop on "klezmer" (sorry if I don't got
the term right, I don't have the CD in front of me) too sometime.
Thanks,
BN
(PS Thanks for clarifying about running a Showman on different
loads. I wasn't sure if that was safe or not so I was erring on the
side of caution)
--- In , "Mel Waldorf" <mwaldorf@p...>
wrote:
> Brian,
>
> Thanks for your kind words about MBP.
>
> The arrangements were based on a couple of factors - what
instruments I
> have, what keeps the song interesting for two minutes, and what
worked with
> the melodies. Nerd that I am, I actually made a spreadsheet of
all the
> songs I was considering, listing the tempo, the instrumentation,
and the
> "extras" (drum breaks, shouts, etc). The spreadsheet also helped
me pick
> the track order. For me, the hardest part was keeping the songs
interesting
> for two minutes (my ideal surf tune length) Many of the melodies
only have
> an A and B section, if that. I tried to avoid adding sections to
the songs.
> Given that, the arrangement "tricks" at my disposal were
instrument, octave
> and dynamic. My default arrangement was two guitars and drums,
and I built
> from there.
>
> Most of the guitar work is my 3-pickup Jazzmaster. For many parts
I used
> the Richie Allen trick of going from guitar, to reverb, to board.
For
> tracks with vibrato, I put a mike in front of an amp. For guitar,
I used my
> Showman, for piano, I used my Twin Reverb. Other guitars I used
were a Dano
> 12-string (Kol Nidre) and a DeArmond T-400 (Ose Shalom). The VI
parts are a
> Dano 6-string bass. The bass is an 83 MIJ Squier Jazz Bass. The
piano is a
> 70s Hohner Pianet T and the organ is a 70s Yamaha Electone. The
recorder is
> an Akai DPS-16.
>
> The recording process was a matter of necessity. I would have
greatly
> preferred to have taught the MIV guys the parts and recorded
live. However,
> due to time restrictions on my part, it was easier to do it all
myself,
> usually late at night (hence the Richie Allen technique). I
started with a
> drum machine "surf beat" track, then added rhythm guitar, lead
guitar, bass,
> and any other instrumentation. Then Shig came over, and worked
his magic
> with the drums. Finally, I re-recorded a few bass parts to synch
more with
> the live drums.
>
> Would I do it again? Yes, if I had to. I think that this
technique is
> really good for developing arrangements, and I do all my demos
this way, but
> I greatly prefer having a band performing the songs. Not only can
you get
> more of a live quality to the music, but you gain something
intangible from
> having different people playing the parts.
>
> Mel
>
>
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