Guitaring

On Thursday I picked up the guitar for the first time since at least January. The last time I had callouses on my fingertips was at least a year ago. Around that time I had wanted to build a positive feedback loop with my playing, and rented a gadget that connected to the computer to record my guitar doodles. But it was too much setup hoo-ha—get the computer out, fire up software, close down other apps, plug the box in, set the levels—I just wanted something physical where I could press a button when I was hacking around and immediately capture the moment. So I didn’t buy the gadget and didn’t get a feedback loop in place.
But Thursday I had a lot of fun playing, and I removed some disincentives by setting up the guitar processor on top of the stereo and keeping the guitar plugged in. And then I remembered a new gadget I saw a few weeks ago. The Edirol R-09 is about the size of a deck of cards, and records high-quality sound on SD memory cards. I was able to borrow one for the weekend (thanks Chas!), and last night played around.
Here are some of my experiments, about 20 minutes total. Most of these songs don’t go anywhere, they’re more like chord explorations and emotional states. I’m pretty happy with them, especially given a first effort. I’ve sequenced them into something of a flow, for those that dare listen to the whole set.
Sweeping Birds.mp3 (1:22)
Interior Waves.mp3 (3:20)
Minor Grunge.mp3 (4:46)
Tangerine Mining Company.mp3 (4:17)
Eee Space.mp3 (4:03)
Swoop.mp3 (1:08)
The Edirol recorder is pretty sweet, and the built-in mics are better than decent. It’s a complete splurge, but I think I’m going to buy this on Monday instead of returning it to the store. Add in some stealth mics, and there might be some undercover recording returning to my future.