I remember eariler on in my music life being surprised when ever reading stories in Rolling Stone or some other rag about a producer, arranger or an engineer working on a recording for some artist, just the mention of a titles made me think of this as lofty positions in the music business background that made being a recording musician something of an enigma to me the common fan. So it remained that way untill stories about men like Giles, Martin, Lambert, but I don't think is was until Todd Rundgrens name became circulted in the media with his musical tatent and then the work he was doing of other music artists that a better understanding of how the whole scheme was tied together and as time went by I could see and invision myself wanting to do some of those kind of things in my own humble little way. Up to this point in my life this all has been a very merry time for me because I in some way have become the mad musician, experimenting and developing a style I suppose but mostly a better understanding of the circle of beginning and end of how to create a song, but don't let me shine on that I have the answer for in truth many times it is others like yourself that define the artist not the artist at all, though the work performed does qualify something to the person...it does become clear if one does not share their artistic creations at some level to their known world, the imagination of the artist is like the wind blowing through the mountainous valley, heard by few and only felt by some. Being the creative person that I am, I enjoy what I do 1st before anything else but I must say that has always been a work, hard in process. There were earlier times when the waste can along side the desk was quite happy with the deposit of waded up transcript I gave up to frustration but the simple answer if there is one is I finally learned to just relax and not force issues when ether writing or creating melody it becomes a matter of simply just letting it flow. Being reasonable to the moment and walking away when things don't add up. The beauty of any of the process is just living life, sometime pushing is necessary and sometimes leaving something alone and coming back to it later is all that one can do. Having fun in music and in life, now that is a challenge I am willing to fight for. Rock till ya Drop my friends, it's all any of us has really got. Love every moment, savor the disappointment with the sucess, it is the only VU meter we have to know that what we are doing is worth everything we put into it aye!
Reply
Aye, we all enjoy the option to change our mind about things we press ourselves to do. That in it's self is an action, may not feel like it sometimes but it is part of the process of moving either forward, backward or just staying the way it appeared to be in the beginning of the process. This new song which I started nearly a year ago now titled "Only Soul" is in it's final stages and up to this point I felt it was just drawing out in time with no real end in sight, something which I never really focus on but as you too may well know about the things of what you are trying to accomplish, music is usually for me something I feel at loss towards it's completion. I still love listening to some of my older work...but the sometimes when a piece is done I give them a rest and comback to them later. Somewhat like the process of engineering and producing a track, you know mixing the sound...balance, effects and post production prior to release what should be the end result of ones own work. But is it ever really done? Rock till ya drop, coming soon on ReverbNation. New song " Only Soul " written recorded and performed by NorthernBandit aka Burt K. Arthur.
Reply
Unofficial: The Dream
Published by Burt K Arthur ·
Good day...It has always been a nature of love...me and music. There is no other way to explain it.
As a result of this condition I find myself never far from the thoughts of inspiration and being I am an artsy fartsy kinda bloke well you can figure it out from there.
I am currently working one the last musical track of eight on the song I have composed called "Only Soul" and last night was not so much a challenge but think of it like this, I spent 8 hours yesterday on my feet at my regular job and then after dinner and with the family went up to the studio and strapped on a 10 pound guitar around my neck and busted out a jam working out a second guitar part which will be the formulation of the song completion yet to come.
I have for a very long time played slide guitar and for good reason, for me it is the full on emotion of Rock and Roll and the Blues in so many ways and works very well in many different conditions. Something I have always done was wear the slide on my ring finger and it has suited me well over the years but...I've smaller hands than many and to play rhythm and use a slide in those situations is very difficult for me due to slurring over strings I don't wish to souund and reach.
So I switched up and put the slide on my pinky finger and guess what...in this particular situation it works beautifully! So I played for about a half hour, untill my legs and neck said " Thats enough ol man " and shut it down for another day.
The moral of thee story: Never say never or doubt your opportunities especially when your gut makes you consider the options.
You will never know if you don't try my friends, this is Burt K. aka NorthernBandit on ReverbNation, you are in my Territory now...Rock Til Ya Drop.
...and have a Great Day!
Reply
Aye, NorthernBandit here, your ol buddy Burt K.
I have one more track on my newest recording to finish on the preproduction, could be as they say close to being in the can but...
...Last evening I was fleshing out an idea with my Le Paul and reached down to roll back my bridge tone control when literelly it broke in half and fell on the floor next to me.
Not too sure what caused it to break, plastics no matter what vintage have their own clock for dimise. So perplexed by the moment my thoughts reeled and I remembered years back I had bought a set of Gibson gold tophats when I bulit my CigarBox Guitar and went to finding them which I did.
The problem is they are the wrong style even though similar.
My LP is a 1960's Standard version bulit around 2009, what they called a "Traditional Pro" meaning a number of things but basically with the aesthetics of the original 60's model and guess what, the tophats are not even close to the newer ones I have in my suppy case.
The break in the knob is clean, almost dead center across the middle with no chips, I think I am going to try to McGyver it back in to use by adhering the two halfs back together.
Will see what happens, the problem will be that the tension of the tone pot shaft may be to much when I reinstall the Tophat and it could just snap in half again or it will work for awhile or may never have an issue but, who's to say. It's only Rock and Roll!
I am not gluing it to the tone pot if that is what you are thinking.
Anyway, it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood. Rock till ya drop.
Reply
Well my friends, the picture does not do justice but is concilitory to mention...I recorded four tracks today, The cowbell which has been haunting me and also got a very keepable lead vocal track completed too.
While I was sitting there having amused myself with what I had accomplished I realized I had completely forgot amout the piano part I have been working on and went to it getting that recorded as well.
As of that point I may have monitored back the the recording 10 or 15 times ( It is what engineers and producers do you know ). Listening is one of those thing that is a constant in recording any kind of music.
Now I am no professional, and even If it sounds like I know what I am doing, believe me someone could do it better but you know...
...It's close enough for Rock and Roll and that is all that matters!
Oh, and by the way...I also recorded a Tambourine percussion track to boot. Four recorded instruments, a first for me in such a long time.
I think I've got a couple of things up my sleeve yet and that is yet to tell, for now its not too bad and even so the final edit is far from here so we'll wait and see.
The song is titled " Only Soul "
Coming sometime soon on ReverbNation. Rock till ya drop...this is NorthernBant talkin at ya.
Reply
So this is not about the Templars or Freddy it's about today. What have you done today that makes your spirit feel free? Music is a way...you can be humanitarian and be human and feel great for what outcome becomes of your effort to help your fellow man but music starts with you and share becomes an engine involving love of what you do for yourself and for others.
Reply
Cheers to you all, Sundays have, at least in my mind always been a place and a time I have enjoyed with some reverence, not because of worldly common beliefs, more due to the nature of pausing and reflecting on my connection to the wider range of thinking I have been gifted with during my life and times. It leads me to many paths and I am most grateful for Music because of this. There are scientific theories, and academic truths about the vibrations in our universe...how creatively when mixed with the emotion of a human soul very special things occur. I have whitnessed these things for myself, your experiences will very but we all have a simular experience, it is magical when it happens and it can evoke the hearts of men to be the kind of human beings we may have been intended to be from the beginning of time. These conditions are not intended to place one soul above another in compitition but to be able to share the fabric of the experience at a higher lever than mere ecomomy or title. We are stardust, the essence of the universe, we are the earth, the sky and the streams full of everything creation has given and it it never stops even in it's meanial form...men with an idea. I suppose it does depend of the souls beginning, where it was woken and to what degree and urgency it reacts to those early given necessities, this is what being human is all about. The total sum of who we are and what we might be measured up to in comparrision to others means little by the force that society place on sucess...it does come down to the spirit in each one of us that sets the gate we advance through this life and hopefully it harms no one and enlightens the soul of the creator, the one that travels this journey we all so energetically move through in these times we call our lives. Rock and Roll.
Reply
Aye, It is difficult sometimes when I finish a new song...It's like a journeys end and you have arrived and either it's the beginning or a new beginning because you know my friends the journey never end and I am glad for that. This evening while I was in the "Studio" I realized I am working toward three things simutaniously, The lead vocal, the cow bell and the piano and it's coming along very well thank you very much! It is not a matter of doing too much at one time because that never happens, it is one step at a time but I am finding my pace and I am ok with the progress. Feels like I'm getting closer to recording the vocal...and a background chorus is imminant. Rock till ya drop. It's all we got. This is NorthernBandit on ReverbNation NOW!
Reply
Aye, Greeting to y'all! Over the years, decades...the last 50 years I have heard and read some amazing stories about other musicians experiences concerning equipment, collections and playing and not playing their gear and the stories why and why not people collect gear for no better reason then to just do it. All of them have valid reasoning for what and why they do what they do, I am not one of of the group except for the playing part of it.
I have been a fan of modern music since I was a kid, I was born in 1953 and being a fan there has always been for me a soulful connection to music right to my core and as a result I am a fan of many musical sounds.
As well, guitars, basses, drums and keyboards, percussion and outboard gear...My theory on the matters of gear is this, I have tried over for over half my life to be someone else musically, that doesn't work for me, I always struggled trying to sound like someone else...epiphany, Be Your Self!
Same goes for gear...there is a lot you can be influenced by...one thing for me is I don't want, never wanted an exact copy of someone elses guitar. I am my own brand so let me break in my guitars in my own time and direction. It is that personal touch.
Best wishes and have fun while you play.
Nothing else matters.
Reply
While we are in our moment, don't ever let anyone or even yourself deny you your right to feel good about what you'r doing and what will be done. Ha, if you are wrong surely someone will address the issue but in music it the feeling, the sound, the emotion and the memories that let you go where you have not been before. Reach out and do what only you can do. It is the greatest you will ever be as long as your alive!
Reply
NorthernBandit / Burt K. Arthur / Mississippi Fats / Blog
Process of elimination...
I remember eariler on in my music life being surprised when ever reading stories in Rolling Stone or some other rag about a producer, arranger or an engineer working on a recording for some artist, just the mention of a titles made me think of this as lofty positions in the music business background that made being a recording musician something of an enigma to me the common fan. So it remained that way untill stories about men like Giles, Martin, Lambert, but I don't think is was until Todd Rundgrens name became circulted in the media with his musical tatent and then the work he was doing of other music artists that a better understanding of how the whole scheme was tied together and as time went by I could see and invision myself wanting to do some of those kind of things in my own humble little way. Up to this point in my life this all has been a very merry time for me because I in some way have become the mad musician, experimenting and developing a style I suppose but mostly a better understanding of the circle of beginning and end of how to create a song, but don't let me shine on that I have the answer for in truth many times it is others like yourself that define the artist not the artist at all, though the work performed does qualify something to the person...it does become clear if one does not share their artistic creations at some level to their known world, the imagination of the artist is like the wind blowing through the mountainous valley, heard by few and only felt by some. Being the creative person that I am, I enjoy what I do 1st before anything else but I must say that has always been a work, hard in process. There were earlier times when the waste can along side the desk was quite happy with the deposit of waded up transcript I gave up to frustration but the simple answer if there is one is I finally learned to just relax and not force issues when ether writing or creating melody it becomes a matter of simply just letting it flow. Being reasonable to the moment and walking away when things don't add up. The beauty of any of the process is just living life, sometime pushing is necessary and sometimes leaving something alone and coming back to it later is all that one can do. Having fun in music and in life, now that is a challenge I am willing to fight for. Rock till ya Drop my friends, it's all any of us has really got. Love every moment, savor the disappointment with the sucess, it is the only VU meter we have to know that what we are doing is worth everything we put into it aye!
Reply
Scrap that thought
Aye, we all enjoy the option to change our mind about things we press ourselves to do. That in it's self is an action, may not feel like it sometimes but it is part of the process of moving either forward, backward or just staying the way it appeared to be in the beginning of the process. This new song which I started nearly a year ago now titled "Only Soul" is in it's final stages and up to this point I felt it was just drawing out in time with no real end in sight, something which I never really focus on but as you too may well know about the things of what you are trying to accomplish, music is usually for me something I feel at loss towards it's completion. I still love listening to some of my older work...but the sometimes when a piece is done I give them a rest and comback to them later. Somewhat like the process of engineering and producing a track, you know mixing the sound...balance, effects and post production prior to release what should be the end result of ones own work. But is it ever really done? Rock till ya drop, coming soon on ReverbNation. New song " Only Soul " written recorded and performed by NorthernBandit aka Burt K. Arthur.
Reply
Slide Guitar
Unofficial: The Dream Published by Burt K Arthur · Good day...It has always been a nature of love...me and music. There is no other way to explain it. As a result of this condition I find myself never far from the thoughts of inspiration and being I am an artsy fartsy kinda bloke well you can figure it out from there. I am currently working one the last musical track of eight on the song I have composed called "Only Soul" and last night was not so much a challenge but think of it like this, I spent 8 hours yesterday on my feet at my regular job and then after dinner and with the family went up to the studio and strapped on a 10 pound guitar around my neck and busted out a jam working out a second guitar part which will be the formulation of the song completion yet to come. I have for a very long time played slide guitar and for good reason, for me it is the full on emotion of Rock and Roll and the Blues in so many ways and works very well in many different conditions. Something I have always done was wear the slide on my ring finger and it has suited me well over the years but...I've smaller hands than many and to play rhythm and use a slide in those situations is very difficult for me due to slurring over strings I don't wish to souund and reach. So I switched up and put the slide on my pinky finger and guess what...in this particular situation it works beautifully! So I played for about a half hour, untill my legs and neck said " Thats enough ol man " and shut it down for another day. The moral of thee story: Never say never or doubt your opportunities especially when your gut makes you consider the options. You will never know if you don't try my friends, this is Burt K. aka NorthernBandit on ReverbNation, you are in my Territory now...Rock Til Ya Drop. ...and have a Great Day!
Reply
wt...
Aye, NorthernBandit here, your ol buddy Burt K. I have one more track on my newest recording to finish on the preproduction, could be as they say close to being in the can but... ...Last evening I was fleshing out an idea with my Le Paul and reached down to roll back my bridge tone control when literelly it broke in half and fell on the floor next to me. Not too sure what caused it to break, plastics no matter what vintage have their own clock for dimise. So perplexed by the moment my thoughts reeled and I remembered years back I had bought a set of Gibson gold tophats when I bulit my CigarBox Guitar and went to finding them which I did. The problem is they are the wrong style even though similar. My LP is a 1960's Standard version bulit around 2009, what they called a "Traditional Pro" meaning a number of things but basically with the aesthetics of the original 60's model and guess what, the tophats are not even close to the newer ones I have in my suppy case. The break in the knob is clean, almost dead center across the middle with no chips, I think I am going to try to McGyver it back in to use by adhering the two halfs back together. Will see what happens, the problem will be that the tension of the tone pot shaft may be to much when I reinstall the Tophat and it could just snap in half again or it will work for awhile or may never have an issue but, who's to say. It's only Rock and Roll! I am not gluing it to the tone pot if that is what you are thinking. Anyway, it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood. Rock till ya drop.
Reply
Close enough!
Well my friends, the picture does not do justice but is concilitory to mention...I recorded four tracks today, The cowbell which has been haunting me and also got a very keepable lead vocal track completed too. While I was sitting there having amused myself with what I had accomplished I realized I had completely forgot amout the piano part I have been working on and went to it getting that recorded as well. As of that point I may have monitored back the the recording 10 or 15 times ( It is what engineers and producers do you know ). Listening is one of those thing that is a constant in recording any kind of music. Now I am no professional, and even If it sounds like I know what I am doing, believe me someone could do it better but you know... ...It's close enough for Rock and Roll and that is all that matters! Oh, and by the way...I also recorded a Tambourine percussion track to boot. Four recorded instruments, a first for me in such a long time. I think I've got a couple of things up my sleeve yet and that is yet to tell, for now its not too bad and even so the final edit is far from here so we'll wait and see. The song is titled " Only Soul " Coming sometime soon on ReverbNation. Rock till ya drop...this is NorthernBant talkin at ya.
Reply
What day is it...Friday the 13th!
So this is not about the Templars or Freddy it's about today. What have you done today that makes your spirit feel free? Music is a way...you can be humanitarian and be human and feel great for what outcome becomes of your effort to help your fellow man but music starts with you and share becomes an engine involving love of what you do for yourself and for others.
Reply
When did it all begin?
Cheers to you all, Sundays have, at least in my mind always been a place and a time I have enjoyed with some reverence, not because of worldly common beliefs, more due to the nature of pausing and reflecting on my connection to the wider range of thinking I have been gifted with during my life and times. It leads me to many paths and I am most grateful for Music because of this. There are scientific theories, and academic truths about the vibrations in our universe...how creatively when mixed with the emotion of a human soul very special things occur. I have whitnessed these things for myself, your experiences will very but we all have a simular experience, it is magical when it happens and it can evoke the hearts of men to be the kind of human beings we may have been intended to be from the beginning of time. These conditions are not intended to place one soul above another in compitition but to be able to share the fabric of the experience at a higher lever than mere ecomomy or title. We are stardust, the essence of the universe, we are the earth, the sky and the streams full of everything creation has given and it it never stops even in it's meanial form...men with an idea. I suppose it does depend of the souls beginning, where it was woken and to what degree and urgency it reacts to those early given necessities, this is what being human is all about. The total sum of who we are and what we might be measured up to in comparrision to others means little by the force that society place on sucess...it does come down to the spirit in each one of us that sets the gate we advance through this life and hopefully it harms no one and enlightens the soul of the creator, the one that travels this journey we all so energetically move through in these times we call our lives. Rock and Roll.
Reply
A musicians job is never done till it's over.
Aye, It is difficult sometimes when I finish a new song...It's like a journeys end and you have arrived and either it's the beginning or a new beginning because you know my friends the journey never end and I am glad for that. This evening while I was in the "Studio" I realized I am working toward three things simutaniously, The lead vocal, the cow bell and the piano and it's coming along very well thank you very much! It is not a matter of doing too much at one time because that never happens, it is one step at a time but I am finding my pace and I am ok with the progress. Feels like I'm getting closer to recording the vocal...and a background chorus is imminant. Rock till ya drop. It's all we got. This is NorthernBandit on ReverbNation NOW!
Reply
Be that forever you!
Aye, Greeting to y'all! Over the years, decades...the last 50 years I have heard and read some amazing stories about other musicians experiences concerning equipment, collections and playing and not playing their gear and the stories why and why not people collect gear for no better reason then to just do it. All of them have valid reasoning for what and why they do what they do, I am not one of of the group except for the playing part of it. I have been a fan of modern music since I was a kid, I was born in 1953 and being a fan there has always been for me a soulful connection to music right to my core and as a result I am a fan of many musical sounds. As well, guitars, basses, drums and keyboards, percussion and outboard gear...My theory on the matters of gear is this, I have tried over for over half my life to be someone else musically, that doesn't work for me, I always struggled trying to sound like someone else...epiphany, Be Your Self! Same goes for gear...there is a lot you can be influenced by...one thing for me is I don't want, never wanted an exact copy of someone elses guitar. I am my own brand so let me break in my guitars in my own time and direction. It is that personal touch. Best wishes and have fun while you play. Nothing else matters.
Reply
Time keeps on tickin
While we are in our moment, don't ever let anyone or even yourself deny you your right to feel good about what you'r doing and what will be done. Ha, if you are wrong surely someone will address the issue but in music it the feeling, the sound, the emotion and the memories that let you go where you have not been before. Reach out and do what only you can do. It is the greatest you will ever be as long as your alive!
Reply