and you just can't stop... *

jonathan said, I like it simple... It's these frickin' guitars, man. You
get them in your hands and you just can't stop...

his guitar parts here have changed the song. i have to rethink a few things, i definitely have to resing the vocal, it had only been a scratch vocal, now with the whole majesty thing going on, i have to sing along with the new parts to do the song justice.


1. i'm so sad
by verne a.

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less guitars is more guitars *

i removed the distorted scottish guitar part as per jonathan's suggestion, i redid the reverb on the vocal, i kept the archtop guitar and drum fills. i will probably stop here , so as to not continue to "guild" the lily. from here on out, its jonathan's turn.

1. i'm so sad
by verne a.

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more guitars, more guitars *

i added two more guitars to the tune, a distorted bagpipe part, and a strummed archtop part.

addendum: i added drum fills to the tune since yesterday, not enough of a change to post a separate entry...

1. i'm so sad
by verne a.

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i'm so sad, again... *

i wrote this song in 1982. it was the first song i ever wrote in the studio. previously i had written with a guitar in hand, not a recording desk.

i wrote this one originally with john beekman programming bass sequencer and drum machine. I decided to redo the tune and develop it using more organic noise makers. i always liked the lyrics because they distill the relationship to very simple terms.

1. i'm so sad
by verne a.

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do do do'd *

this one has an interesting past. jonathan wrote the guitar part months ago and had been mulling it over, trying to write words for it. he recorded a version with a vocal where he "do do do'd" it through the song illustrating the intended melody. but he didn't give that to me. so i waited for quite a while because i didn't want to mess up his train of thought on the song. finally i decided that words from him might not be forthcoming, so i wrote a bass part, and a jangle guitar, then chorus words which i recorded and sent to him.

jonathan had mulled the song over for so long with his melody that he wanted to stick with it instead of what i had come up with. he sent me the "do do do'd" version, i dumped my words and vocal, and recorded two rock guitar tracks, in preperation for my upcoming words and vocal.

the song is loose and sloppy, mostly because jonathan had just dashed the original part down for memory's sake, and the other parts had to mesh with that producing a very loose feel. but i like it.

1. new song
by royce

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break down *

these are recordings from this thursdays practice. i just got finished discussing this with lb, i like the way the combination of acoustic and electric guitars sounds, but the tone on my plywood archtop, is not suited for this type of playing. i may have to break down and get an acoustic.

so, here are two tunes from the practice. my: release (your love), and we slowed down essence from the previously breakneck pace!

1. release (your love)
by verne a.

2. essence
by lucinda williams

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no no no *

this is the first original composition i wrote using the new recording setup. i have tried three sets of words on this one, i wasn't happy with any of them. i will keep on plugging but my history is, "if it don't come quick, it don't come". so, anyone wanna write the lyrics for it? co-writer credits up for grab!

don't feel compelled to use "no no no" as the title for the tune, if you write the words, go your own way.

1. no no no
by verne a.

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first time *

i bought a new recording interface, something called a ux2 by line 6, it just makes it real easy to record. the first thing i did with the interface is record another version of essence.

1. essence
by lucinda williams

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nocturnal twins *

we were making the last of the weeks communications, before jonathan returns to his alter ego, he gave the go ahead on the name of the ensemble, now we are semi-officially known as "nocturnal twins". the story of the name's origin can be found in post "celena"

over the weekend, jonathan took one of the practice songs, and overdubbed a break in the middle.

here is that altered version.

1. release (your love)
by verne a.
live performance with overdubbed break by jonathan

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makes perfect *

practiced thursday night, didn't plug in the electric, just played acoustic. we hadn't practiced since august, so we only tried one new one, a cover by lucinda williams.

here are the three tunes.

1. release (your love)
by verne a.
this is getting closer to where it is supposed to be, sounds good with acoustic when theres only two of us playing.

2. essence
by lucinda williams
this is the first time we tried to play this, wasn't too bad. see where this is going next time, this could be a vehicle for jonathan to blow over a verse and chorus making with the single notes .


3. i don't want to do it
by bob dylan
jonathan is right, this needs to be done slower. without a drummer its harder for me to regulate, i will try next time.

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girls always laugh at me *

bobby mentioned this song to me, i had heard it a long time ago, i really like it, so i did a quick recording of it to see if jonathan would be interested doing something on it. when i im'ed bobby and he was playing the song, he told me his daughter nikki was laughing at me.

nothing new...

so here is my version of a lucinda williams song.

1. essence
by lucinda williams

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celena *

i was listening to a conversation between my daughter and her friend, they were playing twins, she turned to me and said, daddy we are nocturnal twins. it sounds like a good name for the band, anyway, its the first suggestion!

here is another little snippet of a song, got the amp jacked today and "celena" popped out!

1. celena
by verne a.

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wakey wakey *

we have been on hiatus, i had made calls, we were scheduled to play with larry on drums, but family problems have cancelled tomorrows date with larry. so i picked up a guitar, its been almost a week since i touched one, plugged in, and this is the first thing i played. i recorded a short snippet so i don't forget it.

1. thats ok
by verne a.

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september *

the plan: to start playing open mikes with just the two of us, to start honing the material in public, and to meet prospective band members. we do have a drummer with a very large drum set that is anxious to play, we will make plans to get together at his house soon.

i have been writing lyrics all weekend to try and meld them to the 3 or 4 demos i have recorded in the last month and a half, and learning/playing a few covers that might adapt to our template.

1. simple math
by verne a.
the song i am most anxious to write lyrics for is this demo. i recorded this in jonathans bedroom to serve as a reference track for him to add his guitar. its just me playing electric and slapping my bare foot on his floor.

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august *

we practiced twice in august, but the months family leisure schedule hasn't slacked, so we are enjoying the summer and letting it run itself out.

here are two tunes from august.

1. release (your love)
by verne a.
i wrote this tune in march. it was a quick one off, 2 hours in the making. this is from a practice in jonathan's bedroom. i play electric and sing, jonathan plays electric and sings a little second harmony.


2. i don't want to do it
by bob dylan
this was a song that i originally learned to try and do with bobby 3 years ago when he was going to play the winery at dylanfest, but he was not asked to play. it was an unreleased tune by dylan, originally recorded by george harrison. i played it on acoustic and sang. jonathan took that demo and added the electric guitar.

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the get-go

in the beginning, i was asked to accompany little bobby and paige on dobro. i did that on and off for a year. then another guitar player was brought in to thicken the mix in preparation for a gig at the warwick valley winery. it gave me a chance to start switching around instruments, i started playing mellobar, organ, acoustic and electric guitar, especially electric guitar.

jonathan and i hit it off. we are about the same age, have families, love playing guitar, and don't have huge amounts of time to devote to musical stuff.

but here we are, we have started to git-together almost weekly, we are writing new material, arranging some old material. but playing.

coteriefiliation

noun: coterie kowtu(r)
an exclusive circle of people with a common purpose
who
noun: filiation 'filee'eyshun
inherited properties shared with others

ok, lesson over. thats just what i called it. this is a story of how i tried to assemble a band, and a record of the music created.

*all posts after this one that contain music will be marked with an asterisk.