New Album Release - Acceleration

We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to bring you the following news...



Today marks the release of my second studio album, Acceleration. It is a musical journey of epic proportions, with a variety of instrumental progressive rock tracks. Sonically, it offers powerful sections ranging from soaring orchestral melodies to driving metal riffs, with numerous other elements to be discovered and enjoyed. From beginning to end, it is an energetic and rocking album!

Three years of work has gone into the arrangement, recording and production of this album, and I am quite happy to present it to you. All of the artwork for this album was created by the talented Nate Horsfall. Additionally, guest artists Edwin Rhodes and Carl Stanley contributed their musical talents in a collaboration on a progressive jazz fusion track. Three of the tracks featured on this album took first place in music competitions.

If you enjoy progressive rock or wish to support my artistic endeavors, order a copy today! For more information, or to order a copy of my new album, please visit my artist website: TheoConfidor.com

Creative Energies and the Artist

Recently, my sister and I were discussing what it means to be an artist, and what it's like to have an artistic perspective of the world. Following our talk, she wrote a great blog on the subject. As I was thinking more about some things that make an artist unique, I stumbled across another fascinating realization. While some artists are extremely focused and narrow in their forms of artistic expression, some artists use various mediums to express themselves. There are advantages and disadvantages of both sorts of artists. Multi-media artists, who have several means of creative expression, often have a broader creative vision and sometime have broader-scope insights into life, as well as having added flexibility in how they choose to express themselves at a given time or to a specific audience. Single-media artists, who express themselves primarily through one form of creative expression, generally do not have as much breadth of insight, but their focus on one form of expression often results in greater mastery of their preferred method of art. Their dedication can lead them to excel at their preferred form of art. Most artists that I know, however, do not solely fit one category or the other. Instead, there is typically some sort of balance between the two, with a bit of an emphasis on breadth or an emphasis on dedication.

As an aspiring renaissance man, I am definitely a multi-media artist with several major interests and artistic outlets. In seeking to develop my various faculties and talents, I often have to prioritize my uses of energy. As much as it might be desirable to have a never-ending source of creative energy, the simple truth of the matter is that there is a limit to how much creative energy a person has, and how much time can be spent pursuing art. All artists recognize this truth. Sometimes you have seemingly limitless ideas, yet there is simply never quite enough time to bring all of them to fruition. Other times, you have the desire to do something creative, and the time needed to do it, but lack the necessary energy. The first part seems quite intuitive to me, yet the second part struck me especially strongly last Friday. Last week, I spend a lot of time in the studio, producing and recording a new song that I wrote a few weeks ago. While finishing the song and releasing it was quite a fulfilling process, I also felt that I had significantly less creative energy remaining to engage in other creative endeavors. Writing is another creative outlet that I much enjoy. However, when Friday came around and I sat down to write, I found that though I had the desire to write, and though I had a couple of topics that I felt inspired to write about, I was completely lacking in creative energy. I could tell that even trying to write for 3 or 4 hours would hardly be sufficient for me to write even a mediocre post about any of the things I wanted to write about. The energy to write a post bursting with inspiration and creativity simply wasn't there. Since mediocrity is something that I never settle for, I didn't bother writing anything at all.

This brought me to a simple realization: just as human beings have a limited amount of physical energy to expend during a day, we also have a limited amount of creative energy. The second, a more profound realization, is an expansion on the first: multi-media artists are more likely to hit their energy limits than single-media artists, since multi-media artists typically have more ideas that they seek to realize. For this reason, proper priorization is vital for multi-media artists. While lost or wasted energy for a single-media artist only affects one discipline, lost or wasted energy for a multi-media artists affects all of their artistic disciplines. This fact presents one more insight to be gleaned: the importance of proper prioritization and efficiency rises proportionally with the number of artistic outlets an artist has.

Multi-media artists, because of their multiple artistic disciplines, are capable of higher overall creative output, because they typically have more active sources of inspiration, and because they are more likely to utilize their creative energies to the fullest. Single-media artists are capable of higher-quality output, and higher quantities of output in their primary artistic field, although their overall artistic output will generally be somewhat lower than the multi-media artist, due to having fewer active sources of inspiration, and less incentive to fully utilize all of their creative energy. This offers artists an interesting choice of which method to pursue. Both types methods have their own advantages and disadvantages. There are the Ludwig Beethovens of the world, who are renowned for their lifelong pursuit of one creative field, and there are the Leonardo Da Vincis of the world, who are known for their sublime contributions to numerous fields of life. There are the Adam Smiths of the world, who completely revolutionize a single field, and the Isaac Newtons of the world, who make notable strides forward in several fields of study.

What is your natural artistic tendency? Do have one favorite form of creative expression that dwarfs all others? Or, do you have several means of creative output, accompanied by the desire to hone your skills in each artistic discipline?

The Art of Painting Miniatures

Just a few weeks ago I picked up a new hobby. As I wrote about last week, passion is the key to joyous living, which is why I always like to try new things and broaden my horizons. As a long-time gamer, I have always quite enjoyed playing board games and cards games of all sorts. Warhammer 40K is something that I've known about for a few years, but it always seemed like such an involved hobby game to get into. Not only is building an army a bit expensive, especially initially, but there is also a fairly large time committed required simply to assemble and paint your army. For some reason, I decided that I wanted to broaden my skills artistically, mechanically and creatively, so I have begun to select, assemble and paint my own Space Wolves army. Assembling the models is fairly simple and straightforward, but thoroughly enjoyable. However, one thing that I found surprising is how much I enjoy painting my soliders. It feels very rewarding to take something that looks so plain and colorless and bring it life little by little, as I paint each layer and color each detail. In this blog I will briefly share my process of assembling and painting the soldiers.

Before I ever begin to mix colors or pull out my paint brushes, I have to assemble the model in question. I have to decide what sort of solider I want to create, how he should look, which weapons he should carry, and what sort of pose to give him. Here are the different pieces that I have chosen to assemble a new Bloodclaw Recruit. He'll be armed with a chainsword and a bolt pistol, both basic weapons.



Here's what he looks like, fully assembled.



Once I finish assembling a model, then I spray paint it with black primer. Here's an example of one that has been primed.



Once all the models I plan to paint are fully assembled and primed, then I set up my painting station.



Right now I'm still a bit slow and I'm still working on my technique, so it takes me about 2 hours to paint a figure. I could have gone with the default paint scheme for the Space Wolves, but I decided that if I lived in a frigid region I certainly wouldn't want to be wearing armor that hints at frost and snow. To me it makes more sense that warm and earthy tone clothing and armor would be worn, which would give one the feeling of being warmer even in sub-zero temperatures. With that sort of aesthetic in mind, I wanted to primarily use green and brown as the dominant colors for my models. Over at the Games Workshop in Union City, Greg gave me some pointers on how to best paint faces on my soldiers. With a basic concept of the overall look I wanted to achieve and a few practical tips on how to approach painting a model, here are my first two attempts at painting soldiers.





Overall, I was happy with the color scheme and the basic concept, but none of the colors seemed quite as vivid or saturated as I desired. The red wasn't red enough, the brown wasn't dark enough, the green wasn't an especially pleasant shade and the white wasn't bright enough. The idea was right, but I wanted more contrast. With my next soldier, I used a darker foundation, and I double-layered the reds and whites to make them stand out more.



The reds, whites and browns turned out much better, but this time the green was way too dark. Since neither of my green foundations seemed to be the color I wanted, I decided to create my own custom shade by mixing the two to reach a more balanced color of green that wasn't as dark as the second one, and wasn't as harsh as the first. The next one figure I painted using my a temporary new green color.



This one I was quite pleased with! All of the colors complement each other well, and all of them are sufficiently saturated. The red is a rich, bloody red. The weapons look shiny, though reasonably worn. His face and hair look absolutely stunning. For the next four, which I painted simultaneously, I mixed up a whole batch of the new green color and used the same color scheme. Also, I my made first attempts at doing armor highlighting.









The highlighting is more challenging than I thought it would be, so I'll definitely work on practicing that a bit more. Also, with these guys I learned not to apply wash too liberally to the face, because the eyes aren't as clear when there's too much wash. But, apart from those two little details, I am quite happy with the overall look of the soldiers. I'm especially pleased with how the squad leader with the power fist turned out. All of the little details, and the richness of the bear pelts he wears look quite exquisite.

Here's a picture of all my painted figures so far. The squad looks a bit rag-tag because of all my color experiementation, but now that I have settled on my final color scheme, all future squads will look very uniform.



So begins my foray into painting miniatures.

Passion - The Key To Joyous Living

Life is quite a multi-faceted experience. One thing that I have been reflecting on lately is the necessity of living with passion and drive. Simply put, life is the most rewarding and enjoyable when you are doing things that you are passionate about, and when you are passionate about the things that you are doing. During the past couple of weeks, there have been several days when I've felt like I'm in a bit of an emotional slump. That might be related to my having a bit of a cold, which saps my energy significantly, or it might be because I'm not as passionate about some aspects of my life as I want to be. The more aspects of life that one is really excited about, the happier one will be.

So, what should a person do when they aren't feeling as motivated and passionate as they want to be? As that question has been percolating in my mind, I have settled on two different answers, which work best when used in conjunction. First of all, do things you are passionate about. Secondly, be passionate about the things that you do. While those two answers sound very similar, they are actually quite distinct and require very different mindsets and attitudes.

Doing things that you are passionate about requires you to know what you are passionate about. If you do know what you are passionate about, doing those things more leads to more joy and natural energy. One thing I really love is playing, writing and arranging music. Whenever I'm playing lots of music, time goes by quickly, I feel very fulfilled and am proud of my accomplishments. Whenever I'm not playing enough music, it always feels like something is missing and absent from my life. Even though I'm passionate about music, sometimes I get so wrapped up in doing other things that I neglect to play as much as my soul desires. Part of doing the things you are passionate about means carving out specific times to do the things you love, which often means reducing the quantity of less-exciting things you are doing.

Another part of doing things you are passionate about requires living with an adventurous spirit by trying new activities and experiences. Broadening your experiential world expands your understanding of life, improves your ability to connect with other people and helps you to find more things that you are passionate about--which you never knew you are passionate about because you hadn't tried them before. Sometimes you have to step out of your comfort zone, or push the boundaries of what is familiar and normal, and other times it just means that you have to be creative and train yourself to think in new ways. Recently, sensing that I wasn't as passionate about life as I wanted to be, I started exploring my world and looking for something new to do. As someone who loves playing games (primarily board games, card games and pen & paper role-playing games), I stopped by a local Games Workshop and started to learn about hobby gaming, which combines aspects of wargaming (more in-depth and involved than board games) with artistic creativity (assembling and painting your army). While I do have a decent collection of miniature figures, I have never before assembled or painted my own, and I've been quite enjoying the new challenges that comes from exercising my creativity in new ways. Though I'm not very good at it yet, since I just began last week, I really enjoy conceptualizing and painting my little soldiers. Similarly, my best friend was looking for something new to do, and just over a month ago he borrowed my acoustic guitar and starting teaching himself to play. Since then, he's been playing non-stop and even put on a little show at his grandmother's birthday party last Saturday. Yesterday, we drove down to Guitar Center and he bought his own electro-acoustic guitar. After buying it, he looked as thrilled as if he had won the lottery. Trying new things is a great way to discover more things that you are passionate about and to discover talents you didn't know you had.

The second part of living a joyous and passionate life is to be passionate about the things you are doing. This sort of attitude is quite similar to contentment and akin to gratitude, which both do not come naturally, but must be continually cultivated. Often there are things in your life that you used to enjoy, but now you feel very apathetic towards and half-hearted about doing. Thankfully, the downward trend of enjoyment is something that typically is reversible. My attitude towards going to church has been consistently waning for a few months. Because of that, I wasn't going as often, and when I did go, I didn't enjoy it as much as I did six months ago. Realizing this caused me to stop and reflect on why my heart wasn't in it as much. As I pondered this, I realized that one reason I felt less excited and engaged was that I had begun to take it for granted, rather than regarding going to church, worshipping God and fellowshipping with my church friends as a privilege. Another reason that my enthusiasm diminished was that I lost sight of the big picture, and consequently, forgot the value of the church community and communal worship. After those realizations, I make a conscious effort to remind myself of the reasons that I go to church, and consciously chose to engage my heart fully when I went. This last Sunday, as a result of my refreshed perspective, I felt more thankful and glad to be there, and God spoke to my heart through the sermon. Whenever there's something you used to love but are losing your enjoyment of, it's time to stop and reflect on what makes a certain activity or experience so great. Gratitude and contentment are attitudes that must be continually cultivated, and they always lead to more passionate and joyous living.

Sometimes there are things that you have to do, which you've never particularly liked. Personally, I think that if there's something you have to do, you might as well enjoy doing it. Jobs often fall into this category. While some people are truly enamored with their job, typically that is the exception, rather than the rule. Most people go to work because they have to, and aren't especially excited about it. While it might not be possible to be utterly delighted with your job, you can certainly brighten your outlook and increase your joy by focusing on the positive aspects and actively taking note of the things you enjoy about it. Downward comparison also will increase your satisfaction with things that feel like unpleasant necessities. For example, even though sometimes my job involves a lot of boring, mindless programming, the very fact that I have a job in this economy is something to be thankful for. It pays well, the hours are flexible, my coworkers are great and we have the most amazing foosball matches during breaks every afternoon. While going to work might not be my favorite thing to do, when I look at from the right perspective it actually seems quite wonderful. You can apply this positive attitude to nearly anything in your life. Household chores, paying rent, necessary social functions and studying for tests can become things that you are passionate about if you simply remind yourself of all the blessings and benefits that accompany such necessities.

So, if your life is presently full of lots of things that you are excited and passionate about, rejoice in all of it and maintain an attitude of contentment and gratitude. If you're feeling that life is a bit lackluster, then make more time for the thing you love, be adventurous and try new things, and cultivate a positive attitude towards the things you are doing. Living passionately is the best way to have a joyous, invigorating and fulfilling life!

Electric Guitar Experience

A couple of weeks ago I was asked to play bass at a church in Oakland, since the regular bass player was out of town. Since playing bass is one of my favorite things to do, I happily agreed. After the service, the worship leader asked me if I played any other instruments. A week later, he called me up to see if I wanted to play electric guitar during their morning service. Although I have played bass and acoustic guitar in public settings more times than I can count, I've never played electric guitar in any sort of live performance. My sense of adventure and natural enjoyment of challenges drove me to quickly volunteer.

There were a couple of challenges that I immediately knew I had to face. First of all, while most instruments roles and stylistic choices are fairly simple, electric guitar is a different sort of beast. When you're playing bass, no matter what sort of music you are playing, you have to focus on harmonic grounding and groove definition. The bass notes serves as clear cues to the listener of where the music is, harmonically, and where it is going. The interplay with the drums and the rhythms you use serve to clearly define the groove and provide a foundation for the rest of the band. Likewise, with acoustic guitar, simple strummed chords is all you need to play. Playing any open-flavored voicing of any chord works like magic. Electric guitar is different because of several things. First of all, since it a low-mid range instrument with potential to play some upper register notes, the very harmonic range gives it more prominence than other instruments. Secondly, the amplified nature of electric guitars gives it the most potential for prominence based on volume. Third, the vast array of effects that can used to process the sound and the ubiquitous use of effects leads listeners to expect not simply interesting playing but also interesting sorts of sounds. Because of these three factors, the electric guitar has more natural prominence, role flexibility and stylistic options than any other common instrument.

Now, in this particular instance, I wasn't sure what sort of stylistic trappings the worship leader would want. Would the guitar play a prominent role, or would it be a more subtle mixing? Should my playing lean more towards a modern rock flavor with plenty of distortion, or should I keep it clean and mellow? Should I focus on simple chords, or focus on writing and playing interesting lead parts that add more interest and depth to the music? In addition to the uncertainty I had regarding my particular role for this performance, I also didn't have a chance to seriously look at the charts themselves or practice them until late on Saturday night--just hours before the worship service.

In preparation for the gig, I knew that the most important thing I could do was set up all my tones and effects so that I could easily switch between them. I spent about an hour tinkering with four different sounds, tweaking them until they sounded good, and adjusting the volume levels so that I wouldn't have to worry about suddenly being too loud or too soft. I figured that I would use a nice, warm, clean guitar tone with a touch of reverb for my main bread and butter tone. A fatter tone with a bit of chorus and delay would sound pretty for some mellow leads. For my third one, I crafted a tone with a bit of crunch that would work well if I needed to rock out a bit. Lastly, I decided to prepare a harmonically rich lead tone, overdriven sufficiently in case I needed to play a solo.

When Sunday morning came, I was feeling pretty tired, so I juiced up with a nice cup of black coffee. During practice I wasn't quite feeling the magic. We played this weird version of Blessed Assurance in 4/4 (the original hymn is in 3/4, and that's what I've played in the past), and it kept throwing me off. After a few songs of practice and a few suggestions from the worship leader, I finally had a clear idea of what he was looking for stylistically. Since there were 6 people in the band and lots of backing vocals, he wanted most of the instruments to be fairly subtle and only stand out occasionally. For our offertory song, we rocked out a little more with an uplifting number called, "Can't Bring Me Down." The original recording had a really fun organ lick that I liked, and since we had no keyboard player in the band, I decided to play the lead lick on my guitar. It sounded really awesome, and the band leader really liked it!

The worship time itself was by far my favorite part of the day! Having worked out all the kinks during practice, I was feeling ready, excited and confident. All of the songs sounded really great! I especially loved the beautiful melodies that Eric played on viola. It's not everyday that you have classical string instruments used for worship. The use of strings adds a rich emotional dimensions that other instruments just can't convey. And of course, my favorite song to play was "Can't Bring Me Down." It's always fun to rock out more, and the song has such a jubilant, joyful spirit that I couldn't help but rejoice! Besides, as a musician, solos are almost always my favorite part of performing a song. For a first time playing electric guitar live, it was a highly encouraging experience! I can't wait to do it again in the near future!

Game Review - The World Ends With You

The World Ends With You, a role-playing game for the Nintendo DS, was released in the US about a year ago. The first time I played through it, not long after its release, I thought that it was a good game--but not especially amazing. Having picked it up again this summer, I am on my second playthrough. Perhaps it's more a reflection of how I have changed in the past year than of the game itself, but this time I have been absolutely awestruck by how brilliant the game is. The sheer scope of content and the quality of it all is quite mind-boggling. The World Ends With You is fun, intellectually stimulating and takes you through quite a compelling narrative.

Though many modern RPGs are heavily based on a medieval fantasy setting with some sort of cookie-cutter tale of good versus evil, The World Ends With You completely breaks free from such clichèd elements. Instead, it is unflinchingly modern in nearly every way conceivable. The entire game takes place in the Shibuya district of Tokyo and many of the in-game locations are modeled after real locations and shops in Shibuya. As you visit new places, encounter various characters, see the way people dress and find out what sort of things are sold in various shops, you catch a glimpse of many aspects of modern Japanese culture. Several of the notable locations are emphasized as characters in the game actually tell you about their real-world significance. The genius of using a real-world location is that it actually piques interest in the location itself and can inspire players to learn more Shibuya itself and contemporary culture in Japan.

Another profound aspect of the game is the modern narrative structure. Rather than a lengthy page of text or an intricate action sequence, the game begins almost immediately with no formal introduction. Much of the narrative is driven forward by use of the erotetic method. The player is continually presented with pieces of seemingly unconnected information and given very little explanantion for any of them up front. The story revolves around Neku Sakuruba, who finds himself waking up in Shibuya with no memory of anything at all. Why is he there? Where is he? Why can he hear people's thoughts? During the course of three weeks, the tale becomes increasingly clearer and yet more convoluted with every new bit of information. The more that you understand the more you realize you don't yet know. As it weaves its intricate tale, the plot integrates many different modern ideologies and touches on numerous philosophical topics. For a person who is philosophically inclined, the morally-ambiguous characters, the ethical dilemmas, the ontological questions of meaning and purpose, the various models of social interaction, the possibilities for transcendence, and the multiple planes of existence all provide copious amounts of intellectual stimulation.

The entire art direction of the game is unmistakably modern, as well. You won't see a single piece of traditional art or hear a single piece of classical music. The soundtrack is written and presented in a way that bears much resemblance to modern radio stations and our 21st-century iPod generation. The tunes are played semi-randomly and do not attach to specific locations, activities or events. There is no battle theme or overworld theme, instead just a playlist for both that may vary from day-to-day much like radio stations change their rotation of songs from week to week or like individuals who listen to different sorts of music on different days, based on their current mood. Likewise, many of the clothing and fashion designs are modern, youthful and trendy rather than classic and conservative. In fact, fashion trends actually are used as a game mechanic and as a player, you will benefit from following trends, setting new trends and avoiding unfashionable items; the pins used in battle are directly impacted by local trends. In addition to the fashion items and the contemporary soundtrack, there is a lot of urban art and contemporary abstract design used in the game. One mysterious fictional popular artist in the game actually plays a central role in the story, and several of his works are featured prominently.

However, setting and trappings are hardly the most important part of a game. Gameplay is one of the most important and compelling aspects of a great game. The World Ends With You utilizes a lot of various elements. Though the plot progresses in a linear fashion, beyond the plot, the way you play is very freeform. The battle system is intricate and exceedingly complex. Though it is fairly simple to learn the basics of battle, there are so many elements that even masters of the game will find themselves challenged to fully utilize every feature. Since battles occur on two screens, with two different independently controlled characters whose attacks, moves and stats are customizable, just controlling both characters requires a lot of work. Given that scores are given based on speed, consistency of damage and achieving special conditions, there is a certain amount of pressure to fight as fast, powerfully and efficiently as possible. Throw in fusion attacks, partner synchronicity, the power puck and dodging enemy attacks, and players are presented with an overwhelming amount of information. Though some people view such complexity as a negative thing, I think that having such a complicated battle system is one of the best features of the game. With most games, simply by playing enough you will soon find that you've virtually mastered the art of battle and can fight maximally well most of the time. With this game, since there are so many elements intertwined and since scoring well in battles requires well-customized characters, the ability to simultaneously process several thread of information and split-second reflexes to execute and dodge attacks, there is always room for improvement. But, rather than forcing you to master the complicated battle system, The World Ends With You allows you to completely choose your own ideal level of challenge. Apart from a few required battles, most battles are self-instigated and completely optional. You can choose when to fight, where to fight, which enemies to fight, and how difficult your battles should be. If you're having too much trouble processing so much information, play the game on Easy and you'll never find yourself in much danger. If fighting skillfully comes easily to you, then crank the difficulty up to Ultimate and you'll be forced to bring your best to every battle.

This existential, flexible way of playing extends beyond the battle system. With nearly everything you can choose to capitalize on it or ignore it completely. You can choose how much or how little to shop. Fashion trends can be followed or ignored. Collecting and mastering various battle pins can be done as much or as little as desired. If there are some pins that you really love, you can stay with them for as long as you like. Alternately, you can constantly acquire and fight with new pins. There are enough that you will never run out of new pins to try. You can rush through the story or take it at a leisurely pace and try to acquire everything you can at each location. Eating various foods and trying to find the best stat-boosting foods is a lot of fun, but you could also choose to ignore cuisine and not worry about powering up your character's attributes. Likewise, even once you've beat the game, there is countless more to do, find and collect. There are plenty of extra boss fights, new foods, sources of backstory information and battle pins to go back and acquire, if you want.

In summary, The World Ends With You is a fresh, unique, and groundbreakingly modern role-playing game. The gameplay is fun, complex and endlessly challenging. Utilizing a potent narrative method, the story is creative, compelling and thought-provoking as it continually raises questions in your mind and touches on deeper philosophical and social issues. Additionally, the ability to customize your characters and choose how you want to experience the game makes it more flexible and adaptable than most role-playing games. One thing that I found surprising is the replayability of the game. With most games I play through once and then don't touch it much again. However, with The World Ends With You, I have found that the second playthrough is even richer and better than the first ever was. Quite simply, it is a creative and thoroughly enjoyable masterpiece. It is a work of art!

The Art of Solo Improvisation

Being in a jazz band gives me cause to frequently ask myself this simple question, "What makes a good jazz solo?" Sometimes, when I am feeling especially creative, I even ask, "What makes a great jazz solo?" A few years ago, when I first started playing jazz, I had no idea how to even consider such a question. I figured it must have something to do with playing a few notes -- or something like that. That was then. Now that I've been playing jazz bass for a few years, I feel that a better answer to that question is coalescing in my mind. Now, whenever I take a solo, I generally consider one or more of the following things:

Notes Don't Matter
Nobody cares what notes you are playing. Individual notes are only important to the listener in regards to how they sound. Nobody cares whether a note is a third, a fifth, a minor sixth or even a weird harmonic. What they do care about is how the note fits (or doesn't fit) with what the other instruments are playing. Sometimes "wrong" notes sound even better and more interesting than right notes. Sometimes a "right" note doesn't sound that great. With the perspective that notes don't matter, it is easier to focus on the sound than on the theoretical aspects of a solo.

Texture Is Vital
Musical texture is defined by several things. In the case of a single instrument texture varies based on articulation, phrasing, melodic speed, pacing and harmonic range. Playing a bunch of lower notes in succession creates a very different sound than a flurry of high notes. Playing several notes slowly and deliberately creates a completely different feel that fast, short licks. Note articulation also can create many different sorts of textures. For example, notes with a quick and strong attack sound more forceful and pronounced. Lightly picked notes sound a lot smoother and more flowing. Sliding up to, or down to a pitch creates a completely different sound than notes that are played straight. Vibrato can be used to add more emotion and power to a held note. Ridiculously fast sections generate energy and excitement, while slow melodic lines bring the energy down and place more emphasis on expressiveness. Utilizing texture well can give a jazz solo clear direction and serve as compelling sonic material for listeners to enjoy. When texture is not varied enough, a solo will sound quite bland and uninspired.

Dynamics Are Powerful
One thing that sets the pros apart from the amateurs is an understanding and utilization of dynamics. This is especially vital for the drummer, since the best drum solos always capitalize on dynamic changes, but dynamics are almost equally powerful for every instrument. By learning to bring things down to a low volume and then build energy through a solo, with dynamic changes at both expected and unexpected times, the listener more easily grasps the development of the solo. The usage of the soft passages makes the louder sections seem more powerful and the loud sections serve to highlight the subtlety and delicateness of the softer licks. This use of relative contrast can make bland musical ideas seem almost exciting, and incredible licks will shine more brightly than ever. Mastering the use of dynamics in an improvised solo will give it a rich luster, not to be quickly forgotten!

Notes Do Matter
I know that a few paragraphs ago I said that notes don't matter. That's still true. But in another sense, notes do matter. Though most people don't know or care which specific notes you are playing, sometimes musicians do. If you want to show off your virtuosity or impress other musicians then it's great to throw in some licks and arpeggios that clearly demonstrate your understanding of keys, modulation and scales. Alternate modal licks that fit over the current chord can add a really nice flavor to a solo. Playing that kind of stuff requires a firm knowledge of what notes normally fit, and which ones can be altered without clashing with the harmony.

Utilize The Full Range of Your Instrument
Sometimes it's easy to get stuck playing in the same range on your instrument. After all, some octaves sound better than others on any instrument. However, the best solos not only show off the skill of the musician, but also showcase the sounds of both the lower and upper registers of the instrument itself. Though there are no specific guidelines on how much time should be spent playing high notes and low notes, a good solo will definitely make use of both, in some fashion. There are many various ways to do this.

Most Importantly, Have Fun
In the end, the best determinant of a good solo is how much fun you're having with it. If the solo feels dull and uninspired to you, then it probably is. If you are bursting with cool ideas and keep wishing you could solo for several more choruses, then your solo is probably sounding really good. Most of the best solos I've played were the ones where I just focused on having fun and doing crazy things. They felt good. They were fun. And they sounded great!

What's So Great About Jazz

I really love jazz! I haven't always had such a love for it, but ever since playing in a jazz combo at college in 2006, my appreciation for the artistry and musicianship of jazz has risen substantially. Currently, it is one of my favorite genres of music, especially when it is performed live. Jazz blends opposing elements to create something that is greater that the sum of it's parts.

In one sense, a lot of jazz melodies are very simple and uncomplicated and yet they often are very beautiful and compelling. Yet, beneath the apparent melodic simplicity lies a very complicated and intricate harmonic progression, often including many keys changes. Jazz charts have very clear and definitive structures, and yet in playing them there is often substantial deviation from playing what is written. I really love these various elements and opposites that jazz embraces, but what I most love is the fact that jazz is highly improvisational with a strong focus on whomever is currently soloing. Typically after playing the head (the chart and melodies as written), the next period is opened up for solos from various players in the band. In a larger band setting usually only a few musicians will play solos, while in smaller jazz combos often all the musicians will solo over a chart.

During each solo, the soloist has the opportunity to create his own melodic and rhythmic ideas on the spot. Solos are never practiced or rehearsed beforehand, which is the common practice in rock music. Instead, the soloist plays whatever feels or sounds good and is free to grab licks and ideas from the melodies of the chart, from the other musicians, from a previous solo or they can create completely new musical ideas. While the soloist is playing his solo, the rest of the group follows the solo and varies their own dynamics and rhythms to match the energy of the solo and even to add elements of their own to embellish the overall musical atmosphere. Sometimes a solo begs for more motion and layers, while at other times a thinner texture helps give the soloist more presence.

Because of all the various improvisational aspects of jazz, every time a group plays a chart it will sound a bit different and have different elements. Sometimes even the intros and outros are improvised on the fly. This sets jazz apart from most other types of music and gives it a powerful dynamic quality. That is why I love jazz!

Yesterday, our jazz trio met for practice and we decided to play through a new chart. I really love the bass-line in Herbie Hancock's Cantaloupe Island, so at our previous practice I suggested it. After a couple times through it, we were really starting to get in the groove and decided to record a couple times through the chart. The chart itself is a fairly simple 16-bar progression with some short but well-written melodies. Here is our interpretation of it: Cantaloupe Island. Enjoy!

Trumpet: Carl Stanley
Guitar: Edwin Rhodes
Electric Bass: Silas Reinagel