Beginning to experiment more with things I used to never consider or prefer. Dissonance, tension, repetition, vibrato/tremolo, etc. Learning to embrace the "techniques" I considered wrong, like playing closer to the bridge. I'm feeling more inspired to play what I like and what I can "visualize" - it's comforting to know that songs and music can be expressed however I want, and that other artists embrace simplicity and sparseness as well.

1962 AVRI Fender Jaguar
ProCo Rat 2
TCE Hall of Fame Reverb

Direct "loop" save into TCE Ditto X2 Looper.

Moonlight - 05.16.14

More experimentation here; going for that raw, organic feel. Zero post-processing, no cuts or loops. This is a direct signal capture at the end of my effects-chain (just distortion and reverb). The recording was like the last song, captured through making my loop pedal record the entire piece as a "loop".

The opening (speech by Alan Watts) was played through the guitar's pickups and strings through the use of a small speaker (cell phone). Mostly improvised - wanted to utilize intentional harmonics, vibrato, tremolo picking, paired picking, and timbre changes.

1962 AVRI Fender Jaguar
ProCo Rat 2
TCE Hall of Fame Reverb

Direct "loop" save into TCE Ditto X2 Looper.

Fundamental - 05.17.14

Decided to cover "On Fire" by Sebadoh - kept it super simple; in fact, it was just an iPad "voice memo".

On Fire - Sebadoh [Cover - memo]

Produced entirely on my iMac.

Guitar: Fender American Vintage '65 Jaguar
Interface/Amp: Yamaha THR10 into DAW 

Boredom got the best of me, so I locked myself in and decided to see if I could write and record a song with unfamiliar equipment, all in one sitting - this is the result. A decent first attempt, I think.




Made You Mine - 06.21.14

Can stress relief come in the form of burning guitars, sloppy and distorted? Yes, yes it can.

Can some bluesy stuff be done on an offset? Also, yes.

"Rhythm" on AV65 Jazzmaster, "Lead" on AV65 Jaguar.

Bluesy Test - 06.25.14

Bored on a Sunday evening, I return. I want to play more with repetition and droning, like a sitar... I suppose.

THR10 + Fender AV65 Jazzmaster

david tsai

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