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Back in the late Summer/ early Fall of 2011 I was contacted by a guitarist in my area. He is a member of Bandmix, saw my page, and asked if I might be interested in getting together. Tom Cranor and I have begun a musical journey and partnership which has produced some very interesting, if not incredible recordings in his home studio in the last nine months. But, I get ahead of myself.
He wanted to try and do some free-form fusion/jazz/ambient/rock kind of thing. Oooookay. In probing a little he suggested I listen to "Pharaoh's Dance," from Miles Davis' "Bitches Brew" album. I had that album long ago, as well as Jack Johnson. I got them solely because Lenny White and Billy Cobham were listed as drummers. The music was not my cup of tea, though, and the albums just sat in the collection, rarely listened to. In doing a youtube search and coming upon Pharaoh's Dance in the search list I got a handle on what Tom was after. I listened to a couple other things from the album and said, Alright. Let’s give it a go.
He came over to my house first and we jammed. I used my TrapKat set up. He brought a couple guitars, a boatload of electronics, and after a couple hours we were ready to go. An hour or more later we finished the first round and I heard, “Holy cow. Holy cow. I mean, holy cow.” (Is he Hindu?) After some encouraging comparisons to some influential drummers in my life I sat fairly satisfied behind my e-rig, and we talked for awhile. We had another go, talked more, and wanted to get together again. He liked what he heard, but wanted to try and record a session. Our next venture was back at my house and we had decided to use the acoustic set. Mic time (minimalist three mic set-up; my favorite way to go), electronics set-up, laptop and recording software set-up, and a few hours later we were at it again. We knew we had something. We just weren’t exactly sure what it was.
He wanted to try and do some free-form fusion/jazz/ambient/rock kind of thing. Oooookay. In probing a little he suggested I listen to "Pharaoh's Dance," from Miles Davis' "Bitches Brew" album. I had that album long ago, as well as Jack Johnson. I got them solely because Lenny White and Billy Cobham were listed as drummers. The music was not my cup of tea, though, and the albums just sat in the collection, rarely listened to. In doing a youtube search and coming upon Pharaoh's Dance in the search list I got a handle on what Tom was after. I listened to a couple other things from the album and said, Alright. Let’s give it a go.
He came over to my house first and we jammed. I used my TrapKat set up. He brought a couple guitars, a boatload of electronics, and after a couple hours we were ready to go. An hour or more later we finished the first round and I heard, “Holy cow. Holy cow. I mean, holy cow.” (Is he Hindu?) After some encouraging comparisons to some influential drummers in my life I sat fairly satisfied behind my e-rig, and we talked for awhile. We had another go, talked more, and wanted to get together again. He liked what he heard, but wanted to try and record a session. Our next venture was back at my house and we had decided to use the acoustic set. Mic time (minimalist three mic set-up; my favorite way to go), electronics set-up, laptop and recording software set-up, and a few hours later we were at it again. We knew we had something. We just weren’t exactly sure what it was.
Tom’s playing was different for me. No fast scales and scorching the fretboard. He’s not into that. Been there, done that, years ago. He’s into chord work. He creates textures, being really into ambient music but, for me it seems to trigger a switch and I just climb into my cockpit and take off, and that’s when each session takes on a life of its own.
Tom mentioned to me he had a five pc. kit at his house and would it be asking too much if I tried to use it and do some recording there. He said the guy who sold it to him told him it was a good set of drums. I asked what make. He couldn’t remember. Hmm. I figured nothing ventured, nothing gained, so sure. I can do that. I brought some of my own cymbals over. Walking through the door into the studio showed me books, lots of books, trophies, lots of martial arts trophies, but most of all the black-wrap, Argent 5 pc. kit and cymbals set up in the room. Hmm. Methinks Tom has been had. Argent drums, if you look them up, are bottom-line beginner’s drums. I could tell that by looking at them. Oh yes, this was going to be fun. Cymbals … B8Pro and B8s … okay, fair enough, but I’m glad I brought a bunch of my own to use.
I sit behind the kit on what was a seriously small, nominally padded, and very uncomfortable throne Tom got with the set. Ouch. This is not going to be fun.
A couple sticks sat on the floor tom. Let’s see how they sound. Ah, yes. Not.
Lets yank the pillows out of the bass drum first. Now let’s tune the toms. I reach for the 13,” took it off the mount, and began turning my trusty little drum key, and what have we here? The lug breaks off the drum. Oh, yes. This is going to be fun.
Reduced to a four pc., something I had not played in years, I turned my attention to the chrome snare drum, which, no joke, is the worst snare drum on planet earth. A 14” metal drum, 6 lugs, whacked out strainer, and my frustration levels were increasing exponentially. But! Grow up. Suck up. Set up some cymbals and deal with it. Smile. Be kind. Don’t tell the guy his “friend” has taken him to the cleaners. Do the best you can, and see what happens.
Tom has all his gear in his control room, guitars standing up regally in their places, some keyboards, lots of recording equipment, and spaghetti in every direction the eye sees. All of it somewhat familiar to my eyes, but all of it still way over my head.
So, tuned up and ready to go, we began and I struggled to make music for that first three hours or so session. Severe back pain, disgusted, angry, frustrated, all with a smile on my face. "Man, that was ... fun." It was not hard to see Tom felt pretty bad.
Well, that session is now in the works for our first CD, Despise Not the Day of Small Beginnings. Tom actually made that set of drums sound good, all things considered, and when I listened to the session the third time, after the horror of playing the kit wore off, I was surprised to hear the music, the session, was terrific and the whole thing fit into the concept of what we were doing perfectly. It had to be the first CD.
I say ‘first’ because we now have music for five or six CDs, if not some double CDs (update - it's up to 8, at least, now). Each session has a different musical message, if you will; a different angle, yet the same voice. This has become a musical partnership, friendship, family gig and journey well worth that initial contact. You just never know where things can go when you give it a try. And finding Tom in the middle of Country - Blue Grass - Southern Rock territory in the mountains of Virginia is a stroke of good fortune I about gave up on since being here. (update - looks like I am moving to Texas, and 1100 miles away from my brother, Tom, is rough, indeed).
Tom mentioned to me he had a five pc. kit at his house and would it be asking too much if I tried to use it and do some recording there. He said the guy who sold it to him told him it was a good set of drums. I asked what make. He couldn’t remember. Hmm. I figured nothing ventured, nothing gained, so sure. I can do that. I brought some of my own cymbals over. Walking through the door into the studio showed me books, lots of books, trophies, lots of martial arts trophies, but most of all the black-wrap, Argent 5 pc. kit and cymbals set up in the room. Hmm. Methinks Tom has been had. Argent drums, if you look them up, are bottom-line beginner’s drums. I could tell that by looking at them. Oh yes, this was going to be fun. Cymbals … B8Pro and B8s … okay, fair enough, but I’m glad I brought a bunch of my own to use.
I sit behind the kit on what was a seriously small, nominally padded, and very uncomfortable throne Tom got with the set. Ouch. This is not going to be fun.
A couple sticks sat on the floor tom. Let’s see how they sound. Ah, yes. Not.
Lets yank the pillows out of the bass drum first. Now let’s tune the toms. I reach for the 13,” took it off the mount, and began turning my trusty little drum key, and what have we here? The lug breaks off the drum. Oh, yes. This is going to be fun.
Reduced to a four pc., something I had not played in years, I turned my attention to the chrome snare drum, which, no joke, is the worst snare drum on planet earth. A 14” metal drum, 6 lugs, whacked out strainer, and my frustration levels were increasing exponentially. But! Grow up. Suck up. Set up some cymbals and deal with it. Smile. Be kind. Don’t tell the guy his “friend” has taken him to the cleaners. Do the best you can, and see what happens.
Tom has all his gear in his control room, guitars standing up regally in their places, some keyboards, lots of recording equipment, and spaghetti in every direction the eye sees. All of it somewhat familiar to my eyes, but all of it still way over my head.
So, tuned up and ready to go, we began and I struggled to make music for that first three hours or so session. Severe back pain, disgusted, angry, frustrated, all with a smile on my face. "Man, that was ... fun." It was not hard to see Tom felt pretty bad.
Well, that session is now in the works for our first CD, Despise Not the Day of Small Beginnings. Tom actually made that set of drums sound good, all things considered, and when I listened to the session the third time, after the horror of playing the kit wore off, I was surprised to hear the music, the session, was terrific and the whole thing fit into the concept of what we were doing perfectly. It had to be the first CD.
I say ‘first’ because we now have music for five or six CDs, if not some double CDs (update - it's up to 8, at least, now). Each session has a different musical message, if you will; a different angle, yet the same voice. This has become a musical partnership, friendship, family gig and journey well worth that initial contact. You just never know where things can go when you give it a try. And finding Tom in the middle of Country - Blue Grass - Southern Rock territory in the mountains of Virginia is a stroke of good fortune I about gave up on since being here. (update - looks like I am moving to Texas, and 1100 miles away from my brother, Tom, is rough, indeed).
The music is simply (well, not so simply) free-form fusion/ambient/jazz/funk/rock not necessarily in any particular order of command. It's like a sound track with no film. I even hear classical in listening to things Tom does and listening to Bruckner, Dvorak, or Bartok or other composers. Those influences in Tom's background come through. It is jamming, yes, but more, it is composition on the fly. It has power and beauty, grit and grandeur, and it is unlike anything I have played before, in its full context. Some sessions contain some gems, other sessions are good from start to finish. We thought about adding bass tracks. Ultimately we settled on the duo format for it's overall sound field, energy levels, and space. Some mixing, etc., etc., and out comes Miledge Muzic, Vol. 1, Despise Not the Day of Small Beginnings.
Ah, Miledge Music. When I listened back to the sessions in rough mixes it just seemed natural that this style of music is well suited to popping it in the car stereo and heading off down the highway, destination not necessarily known. The music starts, goes wherever it takes us, and without crashing, we seem to end up back at our driveways safely every time. The scenery changes every drive we take, especially when we turn into the space shuttle and shoot into the stars. The energy levels are astounding to me. I often wonder how I can do this stuff at 57. It's music for the miles, with an edge to it.
There are, of course, dozens of references to roads, and highways, and freeways, and trips, traveling and miles in music of all genres. Bands bring it into their names. We certainly mean to encroach on no one, past or present. Miledge Muzic is not the name of our band, or our songs. Miledge Muzic is what our music is. Of course, at this stage nothing is in granite. We've already changed things a few times trying to stay clear of other use of such terms already out there.
I renovated Tom’s drum set. New bearing edges, some mahogany veneer, found him a great snare drum buy on ebay, new heads, added some roto toms I had lying around, a few more cymbals, a new drum throne seat I made, and viola! New kit. Tom’s happy. Despite some little frustrations adapting to it, I’ve been able to be fairly creative on it, I guess.
A couple sessions on the TrapKat filled in while working on the drums, and one of those sessions will be a future CD. It has been a tremendous ride thus far.
Tom has toys. He has lots of toys and brings them into the drive where it strikes him. His Steinberger and pedal set-up takes him to some interesting horizons and at times, leaves the planet altogether. Modern gear is pretty amazing. I really like it. For Tom … lol … well, let’s just say he’s ‘enjoying’ the learning curve for some of this stuff.
So, Miledge Muzic, Vol. 1 is coming. We’ll let you know when the garage doors open and it hits the streets.
Ah, Miledge Music. When I listened back to the sessions in rough mixes it just seemed natural that this style of music is well suited to popping it in the car stereo and heading off down the highway, destination not necessarily known. The music starts, goes wherever it takes us, and without crashing, we seem to end up back at our driveways safely every time. The scenery changes every drive we take, especially when we turn into the space shuttle and shoot into the stars. The energy levels are astounding to me. I often wonder how I can do this stuff at 57. It's music for the miles, with an edge to it.
There are, of course, dozens of references to roads, and highways, and freeways, and trips, traveling and miles in music of all genres. Bands bring it into their names. We certainly mean to encroach on no one, past or present. Miledge Muzic is not the name of our band, or our songs. Miledge Muzic is what our music is. Of course, at this stage nothing is in granite. We've already changed things a few times trying to stay clear of other use of such terms already out there.
I renovated Tom’s drum set. New bearing edges, some mahogany veneer, found him a great snare drum buy on ebay, new heads, added some roto toms I had lying around, a few more cymbals, a new drum throne seat I made, and viola! New kit. Tom’s happy. Despite some little frustrations adapting to it, I’ve been able to be fairly creative on it, I guess.
A couple sessions on the TrapKat filled in while working on the drums, and one of those sessions will be a future CD. It has been a tremendous ride thus far.
Tom has toys. He has lots of toys and brings them into the drive where it strikes him. His Steinberger and pedal set-up takes him to some interesting horizons and at times, leaves the planet altogether. Modern gear is pretty amazing. I really like it. For Tom … lol … well, let’s just say he’s ‘enjoying’ the learning curve for some of this stuff.
So, Miledge Muzic, Vol. 1 is coming. We’ll let you know when the garage doors open and it hits the streets.
Miledge Muzic - 'Despise Not the Day of Small Beginnings'
Available at Sonic Age Records
sonicagerecords.com
sonicagerecords.com