Lower tuning is different from alternate tunings in that instead of arranging the notes to be played "open" (popular amongst folk and blues guitarists) the strings still follow the standard EADGBE tuning but dropped to a lower interval. Thus a EADGBE tuning becomes DGCFAD, for example. This way a guitarist can achieve a different sound without having to deviate from standard chord positions of the fingers. This method of tuning is popular because it...
can better accommodate a singer's vocal range
allows for a deeper and thus heavier, thicker sound to the guitar
gets better action on the strings, useful for more dexterous solos with pitch bending or hammer-ons
contributes to the guitar staying in tune more easily
There are many guitarists who use lower tunings. I first discovered this method of tuning in college while trying to learn Nirvana songs (Kurt Cobain tuned to D# or D). D# is also favored by Jimi Hendrix, Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath), Rivers Cuomo (Weezer), Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins), Billie Joe Armstrong (Green Day), Eddie Van Halen, Slash, James Hetfield (Metallica) and Jerry Cantrell (Alice in Chains). Some guitarists tune even lower, down to D or C or even B. There is even something called a Baritone Guitar, designed for such lower tunings.
Fender came out with a guitar in the sixties called the Bass VI, which is tuned an octave lower than standard E. This is a strange mixed-breed that looks like a guitar (same design as the Fender Jaguar) but who's notes sound like a bass.John Lennon and George Harrison played this guitar for a time in the late sixties (featured on Hey Jude, Let it Be, Helter Skelter amongst others). I find tuning to low D to sound especially good on an acoustic guitar. The notes just sound fatter and I've employed this tuning method on a few of my own songs. However, I don't do it often since I don't like the idea of constantly having to re-tune my guitar (I suppose if I had many guitars it would be easier).
In July I traveled to Iceland with a friend. A beautiful country indeed, even if the weather may be a bit unpredictable. On our second day there we drove to the Haukadalur Valley, where the Great Geysir lay. Geysir derives from the Iceland word geysa, meaning "to gush". And gush it does...every 10 minutes or so! It hurls its boiling water up to 200 feet in the air.
It was a sight to see but admittedly standing around waiting for it to blow can be a bit dull. But we managed to entertain each other enough during the downtime.
It feels weird not being in New York on the 10th anniversary. And yet I'm kinda glad to not be there on such a mournful day. On the other side of the planet, as detached as I can be in the internet age.....it's a good place to be right now.
I was standing on my rooftop that morning with one of my best friends, staring in absolute horror. The intensity of the trauma and fear during those moments brought us to our knees. I think everyone in New York was living in a surreal state of shock for weeks afterwards, if not months.
And so here I am in Singapore, just back to my hotel from dinner with an old friend whom I haven't seen in years. Someone I went to college with who now lives here. Reconnecting with an old friend I think is an appropriate way to commemorate a day when many relationships were forcefully severed. It feels right and I will fall asleep content with my life.
Well, it's the end of an era. Steve Jobs has resigned as CEO of Apple. I don't want to get into the history of apple on this blog.....there's really no need, you can easily google everything you want to know. We all know that Steve Jobs created Apple in the 1970's (the first home-made, wooden apple was priced at $666) and that he turned around the company in the late '90's when he took over as CEO. And I don't need to tell you what an impact his "i" products have made on the modern media culture. Luckily, he'll still be on board as the chairman, and I'm sure his influence will continue for years to come. It remains to be seen how the direction of the company will carry on.
Me and my latest purchase, the Air I was first introduced to apple when I was a kid in the '80's. We lived in the bay area, in Los Gatos, and I remember my dad taking me to the apple store. Being a fan of Tron and War Games, I was in awe of the technology. The future was there right before my eyes. I was so excited when we took our first Apple IIe home. It instantly became a center piece of the household. There were no fancy graphics, no internet or email, just a green screen with contrasting white type face. That was our only computer for years.
The Apple IIe
I didn't think about apple again until I was buying my first computer in the late '90's. I was working at an architecture firm at the time and, although my office used PC's, my IT guy recommended I buy a Mac. I bought the last of the beige G3's. I immediately created my own website; a homepage for my band at the time. I got really into photoshop and html. I still don't have an iPhone, but I love my iMac and iPod nano. I'm definitely an apple user, through and through.
So good luck to you Steve, good luck apple. Safe journeys.
Last weekend my friends and I saw at least 20 UFO's flying over Brooklyn. It was Saturday night and we were enjoying a BBQ on my friends rooftop when we spotted them coming from the south, flying steadily northwards. We couldn't for the life of us figure out what they were. They were flying too low to be meteors and they definitely weren't airplanes. It was clear that they were on fire, moving in an orderly direction, and totally freaking us out.
The next morning we learned that nobody else we knew had seen them and that the burning objects didn't make the local news. Perplexed, we studied the footage shot to see if we could figure the mystery out on our own. After blowing up some of the camera stills we think we've finally got it. See the video to find out what they were.
When I was a kid I was so obsessed with watching dominoes fall. Now I laugh at what a strange cult fascination this was for me and many others! Taking much painstaking time to set up each domino, careful to not let them fall during set up, only to tip the first one with a gentle touch and watch them knock each other down. One by one. They make that cool sounding "clickity-clickity" noise as they fall. It became such a popular past-time that network TV shows, like Ripley's Believe It Or Not, would actually air these falling dominoes as national entertainment! The insiders call them domino chains, domino rallies or domino runs. Bizarre.
