Thursday, December 24, 2009
Monday, December 21, 2009
This is my preliminary design for the home page of the website. Check out a my programmer's test version here.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
This Is It.
Well, this is it -- now that that the fall semester is over, all that's left on my agenda is the release of my website.
It's time to crank up the volume, refine my sound, get together with a few backup musicians, and start booking the EMILIOVELEZMUSIC.COM Site Release Tour!
(note: this will still take a while.)
For those interested in following my tour, I'll be booking New York City venues only (my budget doesn't allow for a tour extending to Chicago yet -- maybe next time, folks!), and I'll be sure to post a list of events when I have one ready.
The goal of the tour is to raise money for the programming fees of my website, EMILIOVELEZMUSIC.COM, and hopefully I can set everything up so that the money adds up properly and my tour ends on the site's release date.
I'll keep you all posted!
--- EV
P.S.: Be ready for a launch party when I start the tour; anyone able would be coming to the first event of the tour, with me, immediately after the party. See you then!
It's time to crank up the volume, refine my sound, get together with a few backup musicians, and start booking the EMILIOVELEZMUSIC.COM Site Release Tour!
(note: this will still take a while.)
For those interested in following my tour, I'll be booking New York City venues only (my budget doesn't allow for a tour extending to Chicago yet -- maybe next time, folks!), and I'll be sure to post a list of events when I have one ready.
The goal of the tour is to raise money for the programming fees of my website, EMILIOVELEZMUSIC.COM, and hopefully I can set everything up so that the money adds up properly and my tour ends on the site's release date.
I'll keep you all posted!
--- EV
P.S.: Be ready for a launch party when I start the tour; anyone able would be coming to the first event of the tour, with me, immediately after the party. See you then!
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Buckle Up.
TODAY
The fall semester's last day of classes, and my English final. It shouldn't be much of a problem; my professor said that we can practically bring in a whole first draft for the essay, and she won't count it as cheating as long as it's in outline form.
TOMORROW
Making the last preparations for a talent show being hosted by the QCC Music Society on Saturday. I'll be performing "I Don't Need No Doctor", playing lead guitar, with a band I tossed together (bass, keyboard, and drums), and I have a climax in mind that involves heavy use of my loop pedal; if I'm going to nail it, I need to practice my timing.
SATURDAY
The performance. Sound check starts at noon, and runs until showtime at 2.
Outside of the Music Society's meetings every Wednesday, I haven't had any time to jam with my band (due to scheduling conflicts), but I've given them all copies of the song, and emailed them the chords and such. Hopefully they pull through. We did pretty well at the last meeting.
[next] TUESDAY
French final. I'm mostly covered for this one, but that doesn't mean I'm not willing to use my spare time and over-prepare.
[next] WEDNESDAY
Psychology final. The list of material I have to study for this test is almost two pages long. Oh, joy.
AND THEN....
Freedom.
It's looming on the horizon. Sure, there are a few tough stretches before I get there, but there's not really much I can do but buckle up and barrel through.
The fall semester's last day of classes, and my English final. It shouldn't be much of a problem; my professor said that we can practically bring in a whole first draft for the essay, and she won't count it as cheating as long as it's in outline form.
TOMORROW
Making the last preparations for a talent show being hosted by the QCC Music Society on Saturday. I'll be performing "I Don't Need No Doctor", playing lead guitar, with a band I tossed together (bass, keyboard, and drums), and I have a climax in mind that involves heavy use of my loop pedal; if I'm going to nail it, I need to practice my timing.
SATURDAY
The performance. Sound check starts at noon, and runs until showtime at 2.
Outside of the Music Society's meetings every Wednesday, I haven't had any time to jam with my band (due to scheduling conflicts), but I've given them all copies of the song, and emailed them the chords and such. Hopefully they pull through. We did pretty well at the last meeting.
[next] TUESDAY
French final. I'm mostly covered for this one, but that doesn't mean I'm not willing to use my spare time and over-prepare.
[next] WEDNESDAY
Psychology final. The list of material I have to study for this test is almost two pages long. Oh, joy.
AND THEN....
Freedom.
It's looming on the horizon. Sure, there are a few tough stretches before I get there, but there's not really much I can do but buckle up and barrel through.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
In the name of Progress -- whatever that is.
It's been bothering me lately that my progress on guitar is a stop-and-go kind of thing. When it comes to learning about theory and songwriting, I've grown familiar with the tools and devices my teacher has introduced to me -- I know their names and how they work -- but my growth is still stinted by a weak theoretical ear and an inability to apply what I've learned to practice. I can't listen to a progression and say, "oh, that's E , F#m7add11 , G#m7#5 , G#7, C#m, A,"(a tune I wrote last month); neither can I sit down to write a song and decide to toss in a modal interchange, followed by the root's relative minor. Somehow, I write songs that are theoretically elaborate and properly structured, but it's never on purpose, and I can't rely on accidental ingenuity when I hit writer's block.
This is where I realized that my approach to learning isn't very driven. I'll sit down and practice for several hours on end -- sometimes all through the night -- but I've never really taken much care to listen to what I'm playing, in the theoretical sense. I'm simply playing, producing sounds with no clue as to how they relate to each other. On occasion, I'll discover something that sparks explosive creativity, and I'll churn out song after song for a week or two...but I'm developing a definite sense that there's something hidden under all of this. When I write down the music that results from these surges, the material is always drastically different from what I've written before; I'll break down the songs and discover that they all have a certain theoretical element in common that was absent from my old work.
So here's my revelation and my goal: if I make a conscious effort in my practice to apply what I've been learning -- I call this experimenting with direction -- I can generate the same "eureka!" moments at a much more rapid clip, and if I run into a dead end I can always move on to applying the next lesson.
My music is about to undergo a huge transformation...and the method is so obvious that I feel almost stupid for not realizing it sooner.
This is where I realized that my approach to learning isn't very driven. I'll sit down and practice for several hours on end -- sometimes all through the night -- but I've never really taken much care to listen to what I'm playing, in the theoretical sense. I'm simply playing, producing sounds with no clue as to how they relate to each other. On occasion, I'll discover something that sparks explosive creativity, and I'll churn out song after song for a week or two...but I'm developing a definite sense that there's something hidden under all of this. When I write down the music that results from these surges, the material is always drastically different from what I've written before; I'll break down the songs and discover that they all have a certain theoretical element in common that was absent from my old work.
So here's my revelation and my goal: if I make a conscious effort in my practice to apply what I've been learning -- I call this experimenting with direction -- I can generate the same "eureka!" moments at a much more rapid clip, and if I run into a dead end I can always move on to applying the next lesson.
My music is about to undergo a huge transformation...and the method is so obvious that I feel almost stupid for not realizing it sooner.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
emiliovelezmusic.com
My official website is (officially) in the works!
I gave my initial layout sketches and functional notes to Mr. J, who in turn passed them along to our coding expert Matt Lo. I have an appointment with Matt tomorrow to discuss the finer details and give him a better idea of how I want the semi-user-generated event calendar, news feeds, video and audio clip galleries, etc., to operate -- and hopefully find some ways to make his job easier.
Even considering that I've just been cut an amazing deal and this guy is saving me a lot of money, I am faced with quite a price tag.
But, regardless, it should be no problem. I talked with my good friend and fellow guitarist Richard Ramos yesterday, and in a few days' time we'll be on an errand run to venues across New York, scheduling events that we can play in order to pay for the site.
Also, another way I'm cutting cost is looking for web development tools online, so that I can format a chunk of the website myself, and copy and paste the automatically-generated code to send to Matt, so that he is spared the work of designing and writing it himself.
Here's a sneak peek at some of the web development tools I'm considering for the creation of my site's photo gallery:
http://developer.cooliris.com/?p=embed/quickstart
http://www.simpleviewer.net/simpleviewer/
http://www.simpleviewer.net/tiltviewer/app/
Stay tuned for more updates!
I gave my initial layout sketches and functional notes to Mr. J, who in turn passed them along to our coding expert Matt Lo. I have an appointment with Matt tomorrow to discuss the finer details and give him a better idea of how I want the semi-user-generated event calendar, news feeds, video and audio clip galleries, etc., to operate -- and hopefully find some ways to make his job easier.
Even considering that I've just been cut an amazing deal and this guy is saving me a lot of money, I am faced with quite a price tag.
But, regardless, it should be no problem. I talked with my good friend and fellow guitarist Richard Ramos yesterday, and in a few days' time we'll be on an errand run to venues across New York, scheduling events that we can play in order to pay for the site.
Also, another way I'm cutting cost is looking for web development tools online, so that I can format a chunk of the website myself, and copy and paste the automatically-generated code to send to Matt, so that he is spared the work of designing and writing it himself.
Here's a sneak peek at some of the web development tools I'm considering for the creation of my site's photo gallery:
http://developer.cooliris.com/?p=embed/quickstart
http://www.simpleviewer.net/simpleviewer/
http://www.simpleviewer.net/tiltviewer/app/
Stay tuned for more updates!
Thursday, October 29, 2009
On The Rise
Tomorrow I'm meeting with my old creative writing teacher, Mr.J, to begin work on my official website.
I'm also meeting with my photographically-inclined friend, Johnny Wolf, for a photo shoot.
Then, in the near future, I have my pick of Mr.J's producer buddies, with whom I can finally record some of my music for the site.
Also, I'm scheduled to perform my music publicly at 3 events before the end of this year.
This all fell into place in the course of a week.
I've recently been stocked full of connections in all worlds that can help me take my music to the next level. This may actually be the start of a career.
I'm also meeting with my photographically-inclined friend, Johnny Wolf, for a photo shoot.
Then, in the near future, I have my pick of Mr.J's producer buddies, with whom I can finally record some of my music for the site.
Also, I'm scheduled to perform my music publicly at 3 events before the end of this year.
This all fell into place in the course of a week.
I've recently been stocked full of connections in all worlds that can help me take my music to the next level. This may actually be the start of a career.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
