|
July 19, England
Just a few more pictures from our July rehearsals, at Monkey Puzzle Studio, where we've been ensconced this last week
It's in the Suffolk countryside near the market town of Bury St. Edmunds - not a lot going on for us other than rehearsing.
A word about what we're up to when we rehearse - just playing the music correctly is plenty challenging, but we aim at more than that - trying to
approach the 'classic' material as if it's new, trying to fashion approaches that haven't been used before, and, with so many talented players in
one place, trying to find ways to have a musical slot for everyone.
The three drummers are, of course, charting new territory all the time - they've had lots more rehearsals than I have, just working out new and
exciting things for the drums to do on these pieces. And it shows, on every piece.
For me, though one of the new issues is devising double picks,(seems that a number of them are ending up on the floor)
I'm also experimenting with things like digging in to the strings harder, using my Kemper amp modeller to its best effect (it can switch between amp models mid-song),
combining effect pedals in new ways, and on some songs trying out a different bass than I used on it on the tour last year, just to spur some new ideas.
More playbacks to learn from...
If there's an abundance of drummers' pictures in my rehearsal journal so far - it's because we do a few new pieces with extended sections of drums only...
gives me a chance to get up and take some pictures during the song
And at the end of the week, finishing things up somewhat as we began, again some fists in the air to commemorate the end of our first full band rehearsal period
The next journal page will be in mid August, when we convene at a different studio to rehearse a few more weeks.
|