making music

My grandmother died on Sunday. Very sad news, especially since I had to call up my mom and tell her own mother had just passed away. Not a fun phone call to make.

However, out of the sadness has come incredible joy.

It started with a recording I made for my grandmother's funeral. Since I can't attend due to financial reasons, the family decided it would be nice if I could record several of her favorite hymns to play at the funeral. I happily did so, and recorded some classic gems like 'Amazing Grace' and 'Jesus Loves Me.' (All songs a half-Jewish girl can relate to ... ha. Not quite. But I still love them!) The recording process was relaxed and easy, since it was done in my friend's recording studio in town.

After recording the hymns, that same friend and I decided it would be fun to 'lay down' a few tracks of our own. Just for fun. Nothing for the funeral, or even meant to be heard by anyone but us. We spent about two hours recording ourselves using the Reason program -- so. Much. Fun.

My instrument had two microphones on it, and sounded surprisingly nice. Fed through Reason, my normally sweet sounding instrument sounded demonic, loud, in charge. I felt like a rock guitarist. A loud, bombastic rock guitarist. It was so cool. With a few clicks of a computer mouse, my instrument went from demonic to angelic, and then from angelic to celestial. It was out of this world.

My friend and I experimented with all sorts of free improv, and I became addicted to counting in 5. 5 and 7, to be exact. We were purposely trying to stay in odd meters for my benefit, because of the way they sound on my instrument.

This same friend just got offered a record, all studio and musical expenses paid, so he is going to take it to the potential producer of his upcoming record to see what happens. He thinks some of the material is workable into an ultimate final track.

Fun, fun.

I had another uplifting musical experience this past Friday night. I performed with my musical duo partner at a local restaurant, and we ended up with quite a crowd. People were listening, applauding, shouting our names, hooting and hollering -- it was great. Some local friends came to enjoy the music, which was super nice of them and a great show of support. It's always difficult in situations where you perform at a restaurant or bar, because you want enough people to come that you get invited back again. When friends come as a show of support, it not only helps the musician, it makes the bar or cafe owner think that more people are showing up to spend money at their establishment.

Based on our gig at the little eatery, my duo partner and I have been invited to do some more gigs around town. It's a refreshing change from New York City, where I never did much gigging. (Of course, I was so busy with school all the time I never bothered trying to book any, but that's a whole different story.)

Anyway, my friend Q showed up to lay down some electric bass. His brother is a drummer and has worked for all sorts of top musicians and bands, including David Bowie and Weather Report. Q has some serious funky chops, so that was a lot of fun to hear him play. A beat boxing flute player also joined our group at one point, to the audience's surprise and seeming pleasure.

Over all, it was one of the nicer gigs I've had in a while. Everyone was so receptive to the music. It was what I refer to as a 'warm' gig -- everyone was warm and friendly and, better yet, eager to listen.

Anyway. I have more to blog about, but I'm getting ready to go back in to the recording studio tonight to play some more. In addition, I'm going on a short road trip to Nova Scotia. I leave next week. Shortly after that it's off to the beach with friends, and then I'm planning a big trip sometime in late August/early September. (I can't reveal anything until it's final, though!) Traveling! I love it.

I'm just so happy that out of something so terribly sad as my grandmother dying, I've been given a blessing. Making music is such a joy, and it's even better when you make it with friends you love and work well with.