Steve Ball

New Guitar Craft website

Live as of today, Solstice.

http://www.guitarcraft.com

Well done.

* * *

Brandi Carlile w Tim and Phil: 18 Years ago today

Reposting a diary entry from precisely 18 years ago given historical significance. On this day 18 years ago, I told my friend and business mentor Bill Barrett that Brandi Carlile would be a global phenomenon one day. He was skeptical, until I dragged him to this show at the Triple Door. Even in 2004, Brandi, Tim and Phil had the unmistakable chemistry of pure stardom.

I'm not sure where Bill is now, but I wish I could reconnect to remember that moment again, today.

Original post is here: https://steveball.typepad.com/diary/2004/12/backspace.html

And recopying the whole post here:

Evening Work: Backspace (6.9M mp3).

Slowing down after a long busy frenetic week. This sketch captures the pace of a typical Pelota Saturday afternoon of multi-tasking within unscheduled time at home -- although it begins slowly and gently, forces inevitably build up and the blood (and just barely consonant harmonies) begins flowing.

The name points to a feeling of wishing it were possible (and as easy as hitting a key on a keyboard) to undo or retype characters/words/actions of recent past.

* * *

Earlier evening: dinner with BillB, in town for a few days. Bill wanted to see what was 'hot' in Seattle right now, so I made some calls and we caught the second (10:30) soldout Brandi Carlile show at the Triple Door. Great to see old pals Tim and Phil Hanseroth blasting away with Brandi, esp P&T's excellent "Fall Apart Again" rearranged for Brandi's voice. Also gave Phil a Box Set to share w/ Tim since I don't think they've seen or heard this since we did some shows together a couple of years ago.

Highlight of the evening: Brandi's young sister came out for a duet of Jane Siberry's "Calling all Angels."

Bill may go see her again in NYC next month -- they're touring in January, opening for Jonny Lang. They just came off the road after opening for Hansen.

Fun fact: Brandi and I used to play back to back shows on Sunday nights at the Paragon on Queen Anne in the mid-to late nineties. She was still a teenager.

* * *

More About Song Tiles

For at least a couple of decades, I have been working under the principle that each song I write, arrange, record and/or release should have it's own dedicated artwork. Given, more than ever, songs are distributed, streamed and consumed one at a time, it makes sense that each song should have its own related cover art, a 'song tile' representing the visual essence of the song.

Groups of songs bundled together as albums and/or CDs generally still all share the same 'cover art' for 99.9999999% of commercial releases. This is still the global standard. However, I have also committed my personal releases to a specific cover art template designed to provide a consistent catalog where the individual songs are celebrated over one (often random) image that has nothing to do with the collection in the group.

My template is intentional partly because it is unique. It is also instantly recognizable, like a fingerprint sticking out in a sea of album art noise. I generally also use highly saturated, iconic images where the color palate is designed to vibrate and attract attention relative to the art school standard designs (and 'jazzy' - read: arbitrary, faux-artistic, often-nature-related song titles that often go along with instrumental music.)

An example of my standard 9-songtile template is here:

Tiny Orchestral Moments, CD3 from Peak Week 1. This CD will be released one song at a time over the next three years along with ~150 other recordings and videos from the Tiny Orchestral Moments workshops since 2016.

Will other artists and labels eventually adopt the practice of individual album art for each track? I do not care. This is my chosen framework and principle designed to give each song its own visual voice. And designed to challenge the artist / producer to consider each song - and song tile - as separate cells within the same entity.

* * *

AI is the new AR

I've seen so much hype recently about AI (Artificial Intelligence) applied to image (and video) processing that seems to be freaking out the creative technology community. The whole shebang (a word that intensely reminds me of former bandmate Bill Rieflin) reminds me of this poster that I used to see around the Microsoft office at Lincoln Square:

I tend to agree with JL on this topic. AI may help reduce some of the creative load by providing generative options, but, in the end I believe that significant creative decisions will still be directed by humans.

For at least a few more years. :)

Thoughts? Further debate from robots who disagree?

PS - The AR reference in the title also refers to previous decades-long promises that AR (Augmented Reality) was going to be mainstream any day now. From my mountaintop, AR today = Apple Netwon in 1992.

* * *

Prometheus Review: 1998

I just stumbled upon a screenshot of a Prometheus CD review from Elephant Talk (an early online King Crimson newsletter).

I've recently been working toward a limited-edition physical CD rerelease as 30th anniversary celebration.

As preparation for this, here are some proposed inclusions to check out:

http://www.steveball.com/prometheus

Thoughts?

* * *

Electric Gauchos + Zum + Marina Fages at Boris Club Buenos Aires

Precisely six years ago. Another trip to Argentina, maybe #20 over the past two decades?

This one was completed by a show at the Boris Club in Buenos Aires with Electric Gauchos + Zum + Marina Fages + special guests.

An excellent union and reunion, and great to be and stay connected with this global mobile team.

* * *

Alessandro Bruno: Storytelling in Seattle 2018

Three years ago tonight, dear Italian brother, Alessandro Bruno came to visit for dinner. Just after dinner we made our way into Ballistic Music studio, and I asked Al to share a story about his favorite League of Crafty Guitarists show.

He told a story about a show we played on June 15th, 1990 at an art gallery in Prato, Italy. A show that was almost canceled because of rain. But the rain cleared at the last moment.

After his story, we improvised a quick piece for two guitars and drone.

Bruno Ball Improvisation 109MB WAV.

* * *

2021 Focus: Completion

Is blogging dead? No, it's now fully distributed. As someone who has been writing and posting online since the mid-nineties, it's humbling to see how far self-publishing has come in 2021. And with a set of Social Dilemmas unfolding across the globe, publishing anything feels like adding a drop of water into the global ocean.

So, here's another drop to kick off 2021.

Focus for this year, completion:


* * *

Seattle Guitar Circle: 1998 Circulation Project Notes, Meeting #3

Next up: I’m continuing to share notes from this (ancient, timeless) project. This one included some special guests: the California Guitar Trio. 

For potential next-gen instructors, note: this entire project began as a simple one-page outline based on ~10 years of working in various guitar circles around the globe testing out each of these specific types of circulations.  These notes about what we worked on in each session were written right after each of the meetings, capturing what unfolded from the original simple outline.  In other words, the sessions were also mostly improvised within a loose, pre-defined framework.

  

* * *

Seattle Guitar Circle
1998 Circulation Project
Meeting #3: Special Guests
Saturday September 12th, 1998
1416 Evergreen Point Road, Medina

Agenda
9:00 - 9:30 Sitting
9:30-10:00 Coffee and free warm-up
10:00-12:00 Circulation Meeting #3 

Present for the Meeting:

• JT Milhoan
• Scott Adams
• Steven Rhodes
• John Henning
• Jaxie Binder
• Brock Pytel
• Heather Pytel
• Curt Golden
• Steve Ball
• Frank Sheldon
• Bert Lams
• Hideyo Moriya
• Paul Richards
  

* * *

SECTION 1: Horizontal and Vertical Melody

1.    Horizontal Melody - the group plays a specific melody (scale up or down)
2.    Vertical Melody - each person plays a melody with-in their own part
a)    direct progression, Up / Down
b)    movement in thirds
c)    melodic up / dual notes
d)    movement in thirds / dual notes

SECTION 2:  Vectorizing

1.    Left to Right / Right to Left Shifting
2.    Dual direction / node transmission techniques
3.    Even / Odd
4.    Note Toss with eye contact
5.    Note Toss naming the name of the person to the right of the eye contact

SECTION 3: Time shifting

1.    free
2.    equal
3.    swing
4.    quarter and eighth together
5.    node transmission techniques

 

SECTION 4: Group Loops

Principles:

1. One person begins playing a very simple part, improvised in the moment.

2. Before playing, each person listens to what the group is playing and contributes a part which:
     a. complements what is already being played
     b. is simple enough that you could play your part for an hour without resting

3.  If in doubt, play a slow pulse on a single note

4.  Each person adds a new part in turn only when receiving a clear nod from the person to their left.

This is how we "circulate in" to a Group Loop.

5.  The piece begins to end when the new part that someone adds in is silence.  This silence is then circulated until there is only one person left playing their part.  When this person adds their silence, the Group Loop is completed.   This is how we "circulate out" of a Group Loop.

 

Variations after the Loop is "cooking':

1. Round - small sub groups continue playing their parts while others rest.  Pockets of Silence are circulated.

2. Trading - groups trade 4-bar chunks of silence and playing their parts (directed by one person by naming names during the piece)

* * *

SECTION 4: "Follow the Leader"

Rule 1: there is one designated leader who comes up with an improvised looping part on the fly which is:

a) simple enough that everyone in the particular group will be able to learn to play the part within 10-15 seconds, and

b) simple enough that every instrument in the group will be able to emulate the part

 

Rule 2: The person to the right of the leader acts as an "analog delay" to the leader's part.  The group "delay time" is determined by the person to the leaders immediate right.  After an appropriate delay time, the person to the right begins to play (as best they can) exactly the part which the leader is playing. 

Rule 3: Always play precisely what the person to your left is playing after waiting for the group "delay time."  If the person to your left changes their part, continue to play your current part for the duration of the group delay time, and then change to the new part.  If the person to your left plays "silence" wait the delay time, and then begin to play "silence."

Rule 4:  The leader does not change their part until at least three other people are playing the same part.  There are always at least 3 people playing each part.

* * *
On Wednesday night we will work with the transmission of Quantity (circulation-based ear training)  
Next Saturday, we will begin to look at repertoire circulations.  

* * *

Seattle Guitar Circle: 1998 Circulation Project Notes, Meeting #2

Building on the notes I shared from my 1998 Circulation Project, Meeting #1 a few months back, here are the notes from the next meeting, #2.

As I prepare to launch Bleak Strategies (a new product designed to energize personal practice and improvised group work), it has been useful to look back on my notes from these meetings that happened seventeen years ago.

When I look back on these, and see the names of the participants, I’m amazed on multiple levels:

1. that we have such a long and rich history of working together, and
   
2. that we’re still just scratching the surface on this new means of improvised group music work that was initiated so long ago.

    

* * *

Seattle Guitar Circle
1998 Circulation Project
Meeting #2:   Transmission of Quality

Wednesday September 9th, 1998
Bob and Jaxie's House

Agenda
8:00 - 9:00pm  Circulation Meeting #2

Present for the Meeting:

• JT Milhoan
• Scott Adams
• Chris Gibson
• Steven Rhodes
• John Henning
• Jaxie Binder
• Brock Pytel
• Heather Pytel
• Curt Golden
• Steve Ball
• Frank Sheldon

*  *  *

We began with a classic "free circulation" (no rules, no instructions), left to right

SECTION ONE: Exploration of Qualities

We began by circulating only the note "A" in any octave.  We stayed on A so that we could focus on one particular attribute of the quality of the note we are passing rather than being distracted by harmonic decisions.

One at a time, we played circulations with a focus on each of these qualitative attributes:

•    Dynamics (soft / loud)
•    Pitch (high / low)
•    Duration (short / long)
•    Timbre (thumb / pick )
•    Tone (bright / round)

During the (high / low ) circulation, we were asked to use our peripheral vision to see whether the person to our left was going to play a high or low note - our note was to be the same (high or low) as this persons.

We then were instructed to play a note which is higher in pitch than the note played by the person to our left.   When we reached the point where we could go no higher, we began again at the bottom.

A leader was chosen to initiate a series of notes which emphasized one or more of the extremes of dynamics, pitch, duration, timbre, and tone, and the circle was asked to identify and propagate  the same qualities of the note played by the leader. 

SECTION TWO: Extremes of Physical Transmission

We experimented with six extremes of physical transmission:

1. We exaggerated the gesture of passing of our note to the person to our right so that our entire bodies would turn and literally "deliver" our note to the person to our right. 
2. We were instructed to also transmit the "content" of our note by using our bodies and our faces in the process of passing the note.
3. We then made direct eye contact with the person to our right as we passed the note.
4. We also accepted the note coming from the left with direct eye contact before passing the note on with direct eye contact.
5. We were then asked to adopt our very best Guitar Craft face while being completely still, facing forward during the circulation.
6. Same as 5 with our eyes closed, completely still, no movement.

We were then asked to find a balance between each of these #1-#5.

SECTION THREE: Group Qualities
1.    Conversation - we were asked to play a circulation as if we were having a conversation.
2.    Story - we were asked to play a circulation as if the circulation were telling a story.

*   *   *  

Next Saturday, we will quickly review our work to date, and expand upon this basic work with the "Transmission of Quality."   We will continue working with the performance techniques known as "Group Loops" and "Follow the Leader". 

The California Guitar Trio will join us for the second half of the meeting. 

*  *  *

2000 BootlegTV: SBRS Videos: Greenthumb

Back in 2000, just as our startup, BootlegTV was getting off the ground (pre-funding!), Peter Dervin of local public radio station KSER invited me to play a benefit show for the station.

So, building on the previous seven years of SGC work, and previous three years of SBRS work in various configurations, I assembled the members of the Seattle Guitar Circle for a combined SGC and SBRS show on Whidbey Island.

This was also around the time that the BTV staff was beginning to exercise our ‘here’s how we could effectively capture live shows’ muscles. Violet Leonard and Kenneth Thomas came with us to the Whidbey Island Center for the Arts and captured these two-camera takes of the 2nd half of the show, and almost 15 years later, I’m spending my late-July evenings editing them for public consumption.

The first half of the show featured these same players, all on acoustic guitars, playing repertoire from our 1999 CD “Twilight”. I recently pinged Ken to see if he could find the Video source tapes from the first half as I can’t seem to find them in my BTV archive.

This is the first song from the SBRS set, featuring Brock Pytel, Curt Golden, Dean Jensen, Jaxie Binder, Robert Williams, and SB playing 'Greenthumb,' a not-so-thinly-veiled song about leaving an apprenticeship for application and assimilation outside of the school. 

* * *

I don't know how long you've been waiting
I can't see that far
Do you know how long you'll be staying?
I don't care how long

Keep your hat and coat in my closet
They'll be safe in there
Take your hands from out of your pockets
There's work for you here

I'm out in the yard keeping my plants growing
Keep up on my garden, won't ever catch me slowing down
Here all of my tools, I'll show you what we can do outside this school

And if it gets hard, don't say I told you so
Hold onto your heart, become a greenthumb
Plants aren't very smart
Someone must help them to grow when it gets dark
Turn on your light and get started

Words and Music: Steve Ball
Copyright 2015 Ballistic Music

* * *

What is a Metronome?

Jonathan Brainin asked a (funny – ha!) question on Facebook.

For me:

1. a listening reminder: an objective external pulse, that invites me outside of my selfish, normally inward-facing thoughts so that I might practice aligning my body, hands, heart, mind and pulse.
   
2. a connection reminder: a common, shared mechanism to connect with friends practicing elsewhere, together.
   
3. a recording reminder: a device with a red light that reminds me that each moment is (or can be) significant, like the red light that goes on when something you're playing or doing is being recorded for later scrutiny, dissection, critique, mixing and/or listening.
   
4. an expanded present moment reminder: a reliable sound that connects me to thousands of hours over 30+ years of playing along with this sound
   
5. a rhythm reminder: a constantly and readily available signal to slow down and play with the flow of this current
   
6. this:

             

* * *

On the practice of taking on addition of a “John Cleese moment” at the end of practice sessions and/or rehearsals:

John Cleese:

"One of my Monty Python colleagues who seemed to be more talented than I was never produced scripts as original as mine. And I watched for some time and then I began to see why. If he was faced with a problem and saw a solution he was inclined to take it even if he knew it was not very original. Whereas if I was in the same situation, while I was sorely tempted to take the easy way out, and finish by 5 o’clock, I just couldn’t. I’d sit there with the problem for another hour and a quarter and by sticking at it, would in the end, almost always come up with something more original. It was that simple.

My work was more creative than his simply because I was prepared to stick with the problem longer. So imagine my excitement when I found this was exactly what MacKinnon found in his research. He discovered the most creative professionals always played with the problem for much longer before they tried to resolve it. Because they were prepared to tolerate that slight discomfort, as anxiety, that we all experience when we haven’t solved it.”

* * *

Seattle Guitar Circle: 1998 Circulation Project Notes

Over the past few months, a small team of Seattle guitarists have been meeting on Saturday mornings to explore what might come next for us as individuals and as a community of aspiring musicians.

As we meet to explore new ways to work together, a number of the variables in the air include some ground that was explored (initially) almost seventeen years ago, so I thought it may be useful to dig out some notes from our work back in those days as reference.  One of the emerging ‘containers for group  improvisation’ included a group practice known as “Follow the Leader” – a sort of analog delay. 

Here are my notes from the first meeting of a five week Circulation Project that I initiated years ago during another transition in Seattle Guitar Circle history.

       

* * *

Seattle Guitar Circle
1998 Circulation Project
Meeting #1: Transmission of Quantity
Saturday September 5^th, 1998
1416 Evergreen Point Road, Medina

Agenda
9:00 - 9:30 Sitting
9:30-10:00 Coffee and free warm-up
10:00-12:00 Circulation Meeting #1

Present for the Meeting:

• JT Milhoan
• Scott Adams
• Steven Rhodes
• John Henning
• Jaxie Binder
• Brock Pytel
• Heather Pytel
• Curt Golden
• Steve Ball
• Frank Sheldon

* * *

SECTION ONE: "Classic Circulation" - single note, single direction, free or with harmonic constraints

• We began with a classic "free" circulation (no rules, no constraints), left to right
• Added a harmonic constraint: only notes in the key of C (C, D, E, F, G, A, B)
  • Principle: if in doubt about where these notes are, play any open string or any string fretted on the 12th fret
  • Principle: if you don't know that you are in doubt, play any open string
• We then changed the constraint: only notes in the key of G (C, D, E, F#, G, A, B)
  • same principles apply
• We changed the constraint again: only notes in the key of D (C#, D, E, F#, G, A, B)
  • same principles, except the 6th string (C)
• A new constraint: only the notes of the C Whole Tone scale (C, D, E, F#, G#, A#)
  • if in doubt, play C, D, or E (6th, 4th, or 2nd open string)
• One final constraint: "Octaves" - play the same note (any octave) as the person to your left. Use only your ears to determine what this note is.

* * *

SECTION 2: "Mobile Circulations" - rule-based key or harmonic changes

First Mobile Circulation: we changed modes whenever there was an intentional pause, cycling through the following modes:

1. C Major (C, D, E, F, G, A, B)

2. G Major (C, D, E, F#, G, A, B)

3. D Major (C#, D, E, F#, G, A, B)

4. Whole (C, D, E, F#, G#, A#)

5. Free (any note)

6. Octaves (same note as the person to your left, any octave)

Second Mobile Circulation: we changed modes only after the circulation went around the circle five times, cycling through the following modes:

1. C Major (C, D, E, F, G, A, B)

2. G Major (C, D, E, F#, G, A, B)

3. D Major (C#, D, E, F#, G, A, B)

4. Whole (C, D, E, F#, G#, A#)

5. Free (any note)

6. Octaves (same note as the person to your left, any octave)

The circulation completes only after everyone is playing octaves of the same note.

* * *

SECTION 3: Transmission of Quantity

Principle: play the same note played by person to your left

• First Variation: "Direct Transmission" - If the person to your left plays a different note than the person to her left, then still play only what the person to your left played, even if it is the "wrong" note.
• Second Variation: Play only what the "leader" played; If the person to your left plays something different than the leader played, ignore this and play only what the leader played.
• Third Variation: Constrained to notes in the key of C.
• Fourth Variation: each person plays two notes - an open-A reference, and then the second note of choice.
• Fifth Variation: Constrained to the notes A, B, C, D, and E with an open A reference
• Sixth Variation: Constrained to the notes A, B, C, D, and E, no reference note.

* * *

SECTION 4: Group Loops

Principles:

1. One person begins playing a very simple part, improvised in the moment.
2. Before playing, each person listens to what the group is playing and contributes a part which:
   • complements what is already being played
   • is simple enough that you could play your part for an hour without resting
3. If in doubt, play a slow pulse on a single note
4. Each person adds a new part in turn only when receiving a clear nod from the person to their left.

This is how we "circulate in" to a Group Loop.

1. The piece begins to end when the new part that someone adds in is silence. This silence is then circulated until there is only one person left playing their part. When this person adds their silence, the Group Loop is completed.

This is how we "circulate out" of a Group Loop.

Variations after the Loop is "cooking':

1. Round - small sub groups continue playing their parts while others rest. Pockets of Silence are circulated.
2. Trading - groups trade 4-bar chunks of silence and playing their parts (directed by one person by naming names during the piece)

* * *

SECTION 5: "Follow the Leader"

Rule 1: there is one designated leader who comes up with an improvised looping part on the fly which is:

• simple enough that everyone in the particular group will be able to learn to play the part within 10-15 seconds
• simple enough that every instrument in the group will be able to emulate the part

Rule 2: The person to the right of the leader acts as an "analog delay" to the leader's part. The group "delay time" is determined by the person to the leaders immediate right. After an appropriate delay time, the person to the right begins to play (as best they can) exactly the part which the leader is playing.

Rule 3: Always play exactly what the person to your left is playing after waiting for the group "delay time." If the person to your left changes their part, continue to play your current part for the duration of the group delay time, and then change to the new part. If the person to your left plays "silence" wait the delay time, and then begin to play "silence."

Rule 4: The leader does not change their part until at least three other people are playing the same part. There are always at least 3 people playing each part.

* * *

Throughout the meeting, Frank provided Alexander work and made adjustments to the group.

* * *

On Wednesday night we will begin new work with the "Transmission of Quality."

Next Saturday, we will pick up where we left off with the work we did today.

* * *

Everything Means Something to Me

This video, just in. From the 2011 Steve Ball Sketch Box, CD 1: Song Sketches.

A tribute to a person who left early and unnecessarily.

 

* * *

everything means something to me  (backward)

I won't fight the candlelight
kettle's on but all's not right
hear your voice but heard you're gone
that can't be your voice is on
wait a sec -- I know that song
ben affleck or matt damon?
unknown guys with knowing script
voice seems strong but ill-equipped
I could swear I know these lines
gentle singer's northwest whines
songs with shadows stains and signs

is it possible to blame
slim's ironic label name
who thought you'd be built then spilled
hunting's darling rockstar's killed
hard to blame your circumstance
at least celine was trained to dance 
margaret said you’re pre-disposed
heart wide open, case is closed

I won't shed a drunken tear
drown my loss in corporate beer
though you're gone  it's like you're here
there's your voice, it's on the air
in that soundtrack everywhere

keep your needle, keep your hay
nothing left to sing or say
none could hold a light to you
courtney, kurt, or mary lou
you'll join heaven's greatest band or
play hell's endless one night stand
trade in all your songs for knives
and empty words of wasted lives

everything means something to me

* * *

Music and Lyrics by Steve Ball
Published by Blue Orb Music Publishing

© 2004-2015 Ballistic Music

* * *

Calisthenics for Improvisation

From: Steve Ball 
Sent: Sunday, May 17, 2015 11:11 PM
To: 'Travis Metcalf'; 'Tony Geballe'; 'Tobin Buttram'; 'Taylor Sherman'; 'Sandra Prow'; 'Rob Taylor-Manning'; 'Paul O'Rear'; 'Meleah Gibson'; 'Mary Beth Abel'; 'Julia Zenteno'; 'Jim Breslin'; 'Jacqueline Binder'; 'Igor Abuladze'; 'Howard Snyder'; 'Greg Meredith'; 'Frank Sheldon'; 'Erin Wigger'; 'Emily Geballe'; 'Diana Garcia'; 'Deborah Gunn'; 'Dean Jensen'; 'David Lavallee'; 'Darlene Franz'; 'Curt Golden'; 'Christina Florkowski'; 'Chris Gibson'; 'Carl Germain'; 'Bob Williams'; 'Bill Van Buren'; 'Bill Rieflin'
Cc: 'Leonardo Requejo'; 'Dev Ray'; 'Patrick Grant'; 'Sandra Bain Cushman'; 'Pablo Mandel'

Subject: Raising the bar: Calisthenics for Improvisation

 

Greetings Extended Seattle Team -

For anyone who wishes to intensify your personal and group work during this next period, I am re-initiating a recurring Tuesday evening Calisthenics for Improvisation session through the summer, similar to the Saturday morning work I’ve been hosting for the past few years.

TL;DL Exec Summary for Busy Skimmers
Beginning this week through early-September, please RSVP only if you wish to show up Tuesday evening(s) 9pm - 10ish with your guitar for an hour of gently guided group improvisation.

Note: location may vary. See below for details if interested.

With best wishes,

-Steve

 

* * *

The Long Version

The aim of this work is as follows:

a) To empirically develop and exercise a shared, known body of improvisation calisthenics so that what we play – even when we don’t know what we’re about to play – is reliably indistinguishable from Music.

This involves intentional work focused on collectively working on one thing at a time, for example: tone, timbre, volume, variations, vamping, leading, following, soloing, key awareness, he and she awareness, comping, copying, chords, clusters, circulation, rotation, integration, patterns, patter, pulse division, polyrhythm, passing, speed, pace, space, silence, slapping, swinging, clapping, tapping, quoting, fading, waiting, whizzing, tinkling, thraking, texturing, talking, and taking turns tweaking what we do together to get out of the way, that we may (more) reliably become one musical instrument, capable of speaking / singing with one voice.

b) To push just into the edge of our personal capacity, and then go just beyond – in a safe, guided and accepting environment.

c) To develop a simple, shared body of named improvisation-based ‘repertoire’ designed so that we are each able to contribute confidently and musically to whatever is unfolding in the moment – regardless of whether this is day one or year forty with the guitar. Mostly, this means practicing feeling the feeling that it is okay to play simply, slowly and gently -- and often not at all.  It also means constructing and socializing an intentional set of diverse, improvised ‘repertoire’ that might one day even function reliably in front of an audience. Ideally, the audience will not know or notice which bits were ‘composed’ or which flew by in the moment.  

d) To practice harmonizing with each other, in what we do, what we say, and how we listen, work and play together.

e) To continue quietly working on the guitarist inside each of us, together.

Special Historical Note: this is not a café. And it is not a secret.  Anyone who wishes to listen or simply sit are also encouraged to show up and be present. And there might occasionally be snacks, slightly unlike other (formerly) secret cafes from past eras. 

As always, please observe a “necessary talking only” approach. However, this is not a solemn rehearsal or performance. Rather, in this environment, I encourage an open and easy flow of necessary talking about what, why and how we’re doing together.   

* * *

Logistics

The default location will be my living room -- but I’d like to also encourage voluntary rotation so that we may share and spread the inconvenience of travel evenly for those investing in this work together.

The first session will be this Tuesday, May 19^th from 9pm sharp to 10-ish PM (we’ll wrap-up when the work is complete rather than obey an arbitrary clock.)  Please be prompt – but we will still love you if you are late, or even absent.

You never ever need to explain or apologize.

Please RSVP so the host has a rough idea of who is coming each week.  If no one responds, I’ll simply be practicing happily in my living room, available for anyone who wishes to join me at this time in raising the bar together.

The location for this first week will be at my place (address below), unless Rob or David wish to invite everyone over to Mercer Island?  Also, those without vehicles, please reach out and ask for transportation help if your desire to participate exceeds your fear of asking for help.

As usual, please bring stools and/or anything else you need to be comfortable with the inevitable dis-comfort of working together. 

* * *

Douglas Baldwin: The Airport Exercise Score

A few years back, my dear old friend and long-time Crafty Guitarist, Douglas Baldwin reached out to help notate the Airport Exercise during a fleeting first wave of interest in the piece. He provided some valuable feedback on my original, quick score – and then he started notating his own version.

Last week, I received the hard copy of this work in the (snail) mail – a surprise gift from Douglas.

Of course, my first (and predictable) response was: can I share what you sent?

So, please check out a small glimpse of the precise and concise work of guitarist Douglas Baldwin (scores and knotwork) and drop him a nice note, send him a small pile of cash, or (at least!) leave a comment here if you find these of value. 

You might also compare this to Gabe’s version if so interested.

Note: Gabe and I did a Skype call to confirm, play through, and tweak his version as he was notating.  

Douglas Baldwin: Scores and More

      

      

    

      

      

  

* * *

BootlegTV: History

Weekend work: transcription of a 2’ 4” conversation with a small team from the original BootlegTV.

This two hour conversation maps roughly to 22,543 words on ~64 pages. I hope to be ready to share this transcription later week with those who were in the discussion. And perhaps with my 1,000 true fans who lurk here from time to time.

My ongoing need to have an automated, secretarial, auto-hyperlinked, auto-summarized, cloud-based note-taking tool remains still unfulfilled. Perhaps this is my next impossible ten year mission?

Executing this ‘history’ project also makes me think there may be a new, useful practice for those who were directly involved in other significant, unfolding histories.

And I may try this idea out (again) later this week with Patricia Fripp, while she’s visiting in Seattle. 

* * *

The Airport Exercise: New Notation, New Donation

A few weeks ago, I decided to hire some professional help to create an accurate score for those interested in learning The Airport Exercise. The score was transcribed by Gabriel Riccio, and I’m making it available now to interested guitarists for an (optional) donation.

The 450K PDF score is downloadable here, but if you do in fact download this for personal use, archiving, study, or presentation, please use the honor system, and make a donation to my “let Steve Ball keep writing and sharing music” fund.

If you have trouble using this tool, or if you wish to contribute via other means or commission some work, music, coaching or training, you may also contact me directly at steveball at steveball dot com.

Thanks again to everyone who visits this site and shares in this work from a distance.

* * *

Reflections on David Singleton’s Visit to Seattle

Sharing some energy that is still flying around since David visited Seattle

* * *

From: Steve Ball
Sent: Tuesday, May 5, 2015 10:58 PM
To:  David Singleton
Cc:  Steve Enstad ; Steve Turnidge ; Don Myers; Curt Golden;
Subject: Reflections

Dear David (and extended BTV-brothers) – I’m happy to hear you made it home safely!

Thanks all for sharing quick reflections and follow-up.

I too had a great few days last week connecting the past to this present.

Of course, I’ve also done just a bit of digesting, some summarized here in this odd place where no one goes anymore (online diaries)!

I managed to scan the Saturday lunch sushi sheet(s) and included a potentially useful picture there as well recapping one of my own primary take-aways from studying how we’re operating given our goals: doing better means doing less. 

Now, a few more quick links before I do less and go practice:

• Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ a San Francisco startup, in the news a bit last year about the art of tour financing. This came up as I’ve been thinking through support models for the Vicar.
• Jo Hamilton: I’m a patron: http://www.johamilton.com/patrons/ - but undecided on whether this is/was a good idea. I checked it out because of the model, but I don’t actually really like her music. Welcome to modern music discovery: I detest your music, but your business model is interesting. 
• Patronage: Finally, a well-known, but worth re-reading Kevin Kelley essay on 1000 True Fans.

One other quick thought for the evening: “success” (whatever that means) seems at least partially-contingent on the idea that someone other than the creator(s) may be interested in our work. But can this be true in an XX-overloaded modern world? (where X = email, movies, music, media, money, management, memories – not to mention families, social engagements, hobby responsibilities…) 

Maybe this is the new reality: with everyone becoming creators (musicians, bloggers, artists) because the democratization and distribution of cheap tools, everyone is now a creator.  Which sort of has this result:  “Who has time to listen to you -- I’m focused on me!” 

Patricia Fripp has a sort of meme about this; she says something like (my paraphrase): 

“while you’re presenting (performing) and worried that everyone is thinking about you (stage fright), you must recognize that they are not.  They are actually thinking about: Is this chair comfortable? What’s for lunch? Did I lock the door? What should I say next to appear smart? Is she looking at me? How is this thing I’m enduring helping (or hurting) me? and the bottom line $10K question: “what’s in it for me.” 

Realizing that everyone is only ever mostly focused on themselves can be a kind of freeing realization.

With this idea, I have a different kind of stage fright -- if that makes sense? 

So, what determines this little tricky little answer: is what I’m doing excellent enough to engage my audience (student, boss, co-workers, circle members) and pull them up and out of their “what’s in it for me?” hypnosis?

Okay, way more than enough.

Wishing you each well in your whatever is in it for us.

-Steve

* * *

David Singleton, the Vicar: in Seattle

David Singleton was in Seattle with his daughter Iona for the past four days, exploring ideas to reinvigorate his 15-year project, the Vicar. 

Here’s a quick recap of the past four days:

Wednesday Evening: dinner with George Murphy, Don Meyers, Brit (Don’s wife) and Iona (David’s daughter) was a combination of rear-view reflection on BootlegTV combined with a forward looking view at what is possible and practical now for music and media creators. In 1999, when BootlegTV was born, one terabyte of storage cost ~$100K. Today, you can pick up a 1T drive for $59 at Fry’s. At that time, average consumer bandwidth was affectionately described as ‘dial up’. We shared perspectives on how much has changed. And perhaps, more interestingly: how much has not.

Thursday Evening: dinner with Steve Enstad, Curt Golden, David LaVallee, Don Meyers, and David Singleton at what used to be the Ballard Firehouse. In January of 2000, David sat in this very spot in the audience with RF for a Steve Ball Roadshow show that featured Jaxie Binder on Guitar, and Bob Williams on Bass.  Dinner at what is now “Ballard Highlife” was followed by a two hour conversation (recorded) at Curt’s place about the remembered history of BootlegTV. David and I realized a few months ago that we might benefit from revisiting reflections on our shared experience in working to enable new music and media scenarios in 1999-2001. There were a number of emotional and insightful moments as we shared impressions and memories of highs, lows, characters and characteristics of the unlikely band of brothers and sisters who came together to pursue what then was an insane vision. Via conversation, we realized the immense insanity of working to build and ship the scenarios that are today covered by iTunes, YouTube, SoundCloud, and Facebook combined.  I’m working to transcribe the conversation for further reflection.

 

Friday Evening: David presented a special evening of DGM and Vicar stories, sponsored by Amy Priore who flew up from LA with her husband to bring a bit of DGMLive to Seattle. There were numerous references to the October 19, 1990 League of Crafty Guitarists show at the Backstage (just a few blocks from this event) where David and I first met, and which set in motion > 25 years of collaborative music and craft work across the DGM family of artists.

It was also a bit surreal to see the legacy of Guitar Craft Services still living and breathing in Amy’s thriving DGM Shop.

Saturday Lunch: David and Iona joined me post-SGC morning work at Seattle Creative Arts Center for a working lunch discussion and coaching session on practical paths to increase David’s ability to focus on next steps for the Vicar.  As many know, I cannot talk without drawing, so here is one of the sheets we used in the landscape analysis of David and his work with the Vicar project:

Yes, that’s soy sauce on the bottom.

Over sushi, among other topics, we discussed viral video memes, Shred videos, caption contests, calendar analysis, Travis Hartnett’s quantum ‘four hour rule’ (see the text next to the improvised Just Passing Through here for one quick explanation) and how the world is full of good and great art and artifacts. Therefore, it’s really only possible to get any significant attention at all if what you’re doing is extraordinary in some way.

* * *

At 3pm, after a 15 minute phone call with Guy Whitmore about the state of interactive music, I dropped David off chez Don Meyers for final packing for his red eye flight back to England.

brothers: in arms

* * *

The Airport Exercise: Learning Edition

There seems to be some interest in the Crafty community brewing again about the Airport Exercise. I’ve had a few inquiries in the past few weeks about where a score exists. A few years ago I scratched out a fast and poorly executed version and posted it somewhere in the haystack of this diary.

Then one morning, I saw an efficient path: hire an expert.  And create a ‘show me how’ video. 

 

The Airport Exercise is part III of the Tower Trilogy that includes The Tetrachords and Descendent: three pieces for large guitar ensemble designed to stretch the fingers of the players and the attention of listeners.

This version of the piece is designed to give interested guitarists a glimpse of what is going on with the form and fingering.

The piece was designed to be played in airports. I don't mean playing a recording, I mean to use the time that might otherwise be wasted waiting by pulling out your instrument and playing this quietly and gently at the gate, perhaps even transforming the idea of a delayed flight into an opportunity to go deeper.

The score for this piece, transcribed by Gabriel Riccio, is available here for a small (optional) donation here.

The backing tracks were recorded and released as part of the version of this piece that appears on Steve Ball Sketch Box: CD1, Guitar Sketches featuring: 

Robert Fripp, soundscapes
Tony Levin, bowed bass
Pat Mastelotto, zing
JG Bennett, voice 
Steve Ball, guitar

In addition to completing the Electric Gauchos Box Set, this year, I’m already looking ahead to capturing a number of the group exercises and improvisation forms I’ve been using in guitar ensembles over the past decade or so. 

My current working list includes:

1. Nine Lives
2. Group Loop
3. Pulse Division
4. Follow The Leader
5. Nine from Nowhere
6. Chord Circulation
7. Descendent
8. The Tetrachords
9. The Airport Exercise

More on this project as it continues to unfold.

* * *

The Tetrachords

Yesterday, at the ongoing Saturday Morning Seattle Guitar Circle meeting at Seattle Creative Arts Center, we stumbled onto a quick glimpse of a subset of the possible patterns that four fingers can make on one string.

Sometimes, these four note patterns are called tetrachords: 

tetrachord  / ˈtɛtrəˌkɔːd /  noun

1. In musical theory, especially of classical Greece, any of several groups of four notes in descending order, in which the first and last notes form a perfect fourth.

In 2004, a piece of structured improvisation repertoire appeared at my fingers that included a means of exploring four note patterns on one string – not technically pinned to the perfect fourth, but designed to stretch four fingers across ascending and descending tetrachord patterns with a ‘rest note’ (open string) between each fretted note.   

The Seattle Guitar Circle performed The Tetrachords live only once at the Sakya Monastery in 2004:

Saturday August 21st 7:30-9:30pm
Seattle Guitar Circle
performing improvised music for meditation
@Sakya Monastery
108 NW 83rd Street
Seattle, WA 98117

Eleven years later, The Tetrachords is now part II of emerging guitar exercises disguised as music. Three of these pieces are part of the Tower Trilogy that includes The Airport Exercise and Descendent. These are three of nine pieces for large guitar ensemble designed to stretch the fingers of the players and the attention of listeners.

Last night, after reflecting on the patterns that led to the original (partially improvised) piece in 2004, I made a quick video to accompany a remix of my recorded version of The Tetrachords that appears on Guitar Sketches.  The image is a picture I took in 2000 during a BTV-era visit to NYC. I stayed in the hotel at the WTC and got up early to take some pics including the source image used in this video.

Historical note, here is a quick picture of the program from the show:

This was the last official Seattle Guitar Circle show before Tuning the Air was born.

At the time, I was interested group practice, writing, recording and performance centered around structured large group improvisation. My goal was to enable and mount performances that felt and sounded ‘composed’ but that were actually unfolding in the moment based upon a new shared ‘repertoire’ of improvisation practices designed to keep the players listening in the moment, and each performance unique.

More like a conversation between intelligent, articulate musicians than a rote, recited play. 

In 2004, after 18 years of playing intricately composed interlocking guitar music, I was ready to move into a new form and new format that was not seeking to endlessly relive, repeat or replay past patterns. 

Ironically, in 2014, the center of gravity has finally caught up with this idea as the newly reformed team in Seattle is now not only comfortable with listening, then playing – it’s generally become part of what we do.

Next step: how to help it come alive in a sustainable way?

One answer: awaken the guitarist inside.

Another: gently revisit the primaries of articulation that include

1. rhythm (pulse, drone, syncopation)
2. polyrhythm (pulse division, complementary rhythm) 
3. vamping (two, three, four, five, six, seven note looping patterns)
4. melody (what do you have to say?)
5. harmony (what do you say to that?)
6. leading (take us somewhere)
7. following (do what I just did)
8. circulation (too many variations to list here)
9. group loops (too many variations to list here)

* * *

Electric Gauchos: Maturin

'Maturin' is a fourth preview video from the upcoming Electric Gauchos Box Set: 81 tracks on 9 CDs, all improvised by Electric Gauchos during a three day session in late May 2014.

Maturin features: Brock Avery (drums, percussion), Fernando Kabusacki (guitars), Fernando Samalea (drums, percussion, vibes), Horacio Pozzo (guitars, keyboards), Igor Abuladze (bass), Steve Ball (guitars, keyboards, and vocals).

Maturin also features Douglas Erickson on acoustic guitar, Stephen Thompson on flute, Rob Taylor-Manning and Jane Siberry on spoken word.

At the beginning of this all improvised piece, I asked Doug to play "Pop Song Number Two" and three seconds later he began playing the acoustic arpeggio that is the basis of this song.  None of us had any idea what what ‘Pop Song Number Two’ is (including Doug) but what poured out was one of the highlights of this insane project.

I later added words and melodies and turned the improvised backing track into this song.

CD 5 also features the instrumental version this track called "Maturin."

* * *

tired tiny god
holding earth in its place
burning out of her shell
from her deep winter spell
only to rain down thunder and shock
stronger than stick or sword stuck in some rock
not like the end we read in the book

two tiny threads
keeping us in our place
we'll break out of our shell
from our deep winter spell
so let’s slide off her back
and let's chug her bitter pill
head and hooves, tail of calf
can you hear mother's laugh?

* * *

Words by Steve Ball
Copyright 2015
Blue Orb Music Publishing
Ballistic Music

 

* * *

For true fans, here is the all instrumental version to contrast to the vocal version:

NOTE: I made these videos as part of my ongoing quest to discover tools to build generative video. Anyone who sees these and finds resonance with this mission, please contact me (or leave comments here about the tools you use for live or rendered video tools to accompany vast-catalogs of music.

* * *

Electric Gauchos: Secret Structures

Here is a second (monthly) preview from the upcoming Electric Gauchos Box Set: 81 tracks on 9 CDs, all improvised by Electric Gauchos during a three day session in late May 2014.

This all-improvised track features Brock Avery (drums, percussion), Fernando Kabusacki (guitars), Fernando Samalea (drums, percussion, vibes), Horacio Pozzo (guitars, keyboards), Igor Abuladze (bass), and Steve Ball (guitars, keyboards).

The images in this video were generated on my Surface with a pen and are part of my continuing quest to discover new generative tools for generating compelling visuals that respond to and are seeded by source audio.

This video was completed and posted on the 9-month anniversary of the Electric Gauchos 2014 recording project.

* * *

Electric Gauchos: Red Road

This video is a preview from the upcoming Electric Gauchos Box Set: 81 tracks on 9 CDs, all improvised by Electric Gauchos during a three day session in late May 2014.

This was track # 67 (recorded in sequence on Thursday May 29th, 2014) and features Brock Avery (drums, percussion), Fernando Kabusacki (guitars), Fernando Samalea (drums, percussion, vibes), Horacio Pozzo (guitars, keyboards), Igor Abuladze (bass), Steve Ball (guitars, keyboards).

This preview track also features Seattle Guitar Circle member Bob Williams on electric guitar. Bob nails the solo at the end as if he’d been playing this piece for years.

 

* * *

Spring: Sprung

Weekend Work: Spring Sprung (6.9M mp3)

I’ve been working with my right-hand fingers, inspired by David LaVallee over this past year.

This song seed initially popped out at Suncadia over the winter holidays while working with my right hand, and it had been brewing nicely with occasional help from David, Paul, and most recently Sandra and Stephen, who both gave it a nice push over the edge during calisthenics at David’s house yesterday morning.

Here is the seed in a primitive form, words on the way.

Back in action, building a new mystery aimed at twelve songs of odd pop. Beginning where I am, one song seed at a time.

* * *

C3: Two Minus One

Song from the 2013 CD / Book "C3:Motion Study." Video starring the 2013 Live C3 line-up: Paul O'Rear, Jaxie Binder, Stephen Thompson, and Steve Ball. 

My mom and sister (Julie) helped make the voodoo dolls, and Sofie and I worked on the stop motion video as a way to learn about animation. The whole bedroom theme was also a blast and formed a new sort of bond between these band mates.  The paintings were also a labor-intensive labor of many hours of love, and I hope they add some new level of understanding to the (at least double) layers of the lyrics.

music by Steve Ball and Paul O'Rear
words by Steve Ball
© 2013

Two Minus One

brick and pillow mars and venus
silk and paper sheets between us
hello kitty smart and pretty
midwest ocean sand in lotion 
one red leaf in the ocean
two red lips without motion
me soft speaking misspoken
you love making past passion
you glass slipper fast fashion
me rust zipper left open
we lost promises broken

hallelujah glad I knew you
never know dear what went through you
goodbye kitten script unwritten
frozen water diamond daughter

a ring in the rocket
a lock on the locket
a stick in the socket
a prick in the pocket
a bend in river
a punch in the liver
a shock for the doctor

hallelujah glad I knew you
hallelujah sin stuck to you
hallelujah little Buddha
hallelujah a pin pokes through you

goodbye kitty hello city
worlds between us
mars and venus

* * *

C3 Motion Study iPad App

Now free on iTunes, a new C3 music app highlighting twelve unique interactive music experiences based on C3 songs.

“It’ll restore your faith in adventurous songcraft” - Anil Prasad, Innerviews

C3: Motion Study presents innovative music in an interactive, touch-driven format for the iPad. Twelve C3 songs are transformed into a moving, multi-layered musical mash-up, a playfully pliable puzzle. Motion Study is visual and visceral way to experience the motion & emotion in this evocative music.

Seattle-based C3 is a collaboration between Steve Ball and Paul O’Rear whose unique music combines odd, intricate and interlocking guitar parts with stacked vocal harmonies. C3 performances feature a constantly morphing line-up of world-class guest musicians who collaborate to present improvised songscapes and multi-layered story-songs. Arrangements, tempos, keys, and harmonies unfold dynamically in the moment, and no song or show is ever performed exactly the same way twice.

The C3:Motion Study app reflects this same aesthetic.

Based on C3’s 2013 book and CD “Motion Study” this is the App equivalent of a live C3 show: subtle and surprising. The app, created in collaboration with Zentric – the world-class dev and design firm already doing amazing interactive work for Tony Levin and Genesis photographer Armando Gallo – gracefully unveils the hypnotic layers of C3’s music and art.

Another experimental baby step toward ‘playing with’ music in new ways extending my long term work with Guitar Craft, Seattle Guitar Circle, Rockslide, Rifff, DirectMusic, BootlegTV, Ximer, and the Surface Remix Project. 

* * *

Daughter of Violence

Homework: for an upcoming spin-off, a sort of sequel.  Or prequel.

Daughter of Violence, 9.55M mp3

daughter of violence
she's under your thunder
she hangs in your hunger
she's tipping the level  
she's dating the devil  

she's my daughter of violence
she kills every silence
she answers in layers
she questions your prayers
so go ahead and wash your dirty hands
throw her boomerang see where it lands 
lands near her mother dear

her code won't compile
she's cracking a smile
her curse is unspoken
her breathing is broken

she slices the silence
my daughter of violence
disguises, disgraces 
puts you in your places
she loves to see your wet eyes in the mirror
reminds her of her dear old mother dear
reminders her of her mother: fear 
mother: fear

* * *

Steve Ball: guitar, vox, words, melodies
Paul O’Rear: bass
Ivan Lee: guitar
Stevie Adamek: drums, bass
Sofie Ball: bvox
JG Bennett: voice of warning

* * *

C3 Niagara Falls, now on iTunes

More times four good news: the fourth weekly C3 single is now for sale on iTunes.

Dangling carrots.

* * *