Minimalist Musician

JS Music – Update 15 – 007 Update

Posted on November 12, 2010 by JS • 0 Comments

007 Update

I’ve been working on expanding out 007 for quite a while, not sure where I wanted to take it. You can hear the older version for comparison when I first posted this piece.

007 – Audio

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I’m very drawn to the drum work on this piece and listening to it always puts me in a hurry-up-and-stop mindset, which I absolutely love. I’ve repeated the initial bass riff over and over again which to me adds a very ‘wanting’ feeling without having to deal with much of a classic buildup that you find in a lot of electronic music.

The new bass part at the very end was added recently and is way more rhythmic than it is melodic. It’s only two notes but the scattered riff and energy drive the song forward even more.

I’m not quite sure where I want to take this song next, but I have a feeling that an all-out climactic conclusion into a memorable part is order.

16+ Years of Tab

On top of my writing duties, just today I’ve started a project that I’ve been wanting to get at for a long, long time: going through 16+ years of bass tab. Other than audio-only, this is essentially my complete written works. There is a stack of material waiting for me to tackle and I’ve already gone through a few pages of it.

I’m planning on determining what is worth keeping and what I want to toss. When I find something I want to keep, I’m going to record it and then possibly refine it and bring it into this work that I’m doing now. Everything else will be shelved for possible future projects.

My insane mission to go through every inch of my life and determine what is important and essential and what isn’t is gaining a delicious momentum and completely altering every aspect of my life.

All I can say right now, is that it’s everything I thought it would be…and more.

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On another note, Heidi and I have been receiving another stack of curious questions from people asking us about minimalism quest. In fact, I do feel like I’m on a quest for some strange treasure.

These people are fascinated, and rightly so. I’ll keep addressing my journey on this site, but to make it more organized and helpful, Heidi and I are close to deciding to start a site/blog dedicated to this enrapturing subject that we have fallen in love with.

What else can offer more enthusiasm than gaining more and more freedom back in your life?

~ JS

Filed Under: General

JS Music – Update 14 – New Audio (5a)

Posted on November 5, 2010 by JS • 0 Comments

5a

Over the last couple months I’ve been spending a ton more time on creating music while I continue to minimalize my life. I’ve written a lot of new material and have further expanded my vision of where I am heading with this musical project.

Today I’m posting a brand new piece that has the temporary title of “5a”. This piece was originally written for another project that was put aside and I’ve come to love the simple crushing sound of it so much that I had to pull it over into my personal project.

5a is a driving piece, using deep/wide synths and more overdrive/octave fueled bass riffs. It’s reminiscent of classic industrial-type beats and drum sounds with an overarching forward-reaching cadence.

5a – Audio

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I’ve attempted quite a few different angles for expanding this piece into something bigger and more substantial but have been unable to find quite the right compliment. I suspect that many of these attempts will find themselves tucked into other pieces.

This is a piece that I can really feel when I play it and envision it transferring to performance beautifully. It’s going to provide a huge energy live and I’m sure I’ll look ridiculous while playing it on stage.

Updates, New Songs, and Chaga Tea

I’ve got some hearty updates to 007 and a couple new pieces that have me outright bursting with creative energy on that I can’t wait to share. One of the pieces goes into a sonic realm on the bass that I rarely get into and will expand my audible variety significantly. As I’m writing this right now, I’m feeling the excitement build to work on this piece!

While I’m ramping up sheer hours spent in my minimalist ‘studio’ (post coming soon on that), I’ve been hitting up chaga tea and chaga-coffee drinks quite a bit and am feeling very balanced, energized, and inspired. I can say with absolute certainty that chaga has increased my mental acuity and concentration dramatically. Something I didn’t quite suspect since I’ve only experienced it as an immune and overall body tonic previously.

Heidi and I will do a post on chaga on HealthRebels.com to give you the Ohlander Download on chaga. Especially now that we are getting close to winter, and chaga hunting season is nearing!

SoundCloud

Besides all the writing I’ve been doing in a cramped but well-lit corner of my room, I’ve recently signed up for SoundCloud and so far I absolutely love the service, even more than BandCamp. It’s interface is very slick and easy to work with. I was up and running with all of my material in no time, all with basic (and powerful) features.

The main reason I signed up was so I could post a simple, quality Flash player on the side of this site. Check it out. It plays quickly and fits perfectly anywhere you put it on your site…all this even in the free version, which gives you up to 2 hours of audio to load for free as well.

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At the rate I’m progressing, I’m planning on performing something within 2-3 months, which is very doable at this point. I’ve done a lot of research and put a lot of thought into my live setup, as well as purchased some key equipment. Right now I can say that it will be minimal and powerful…just how I like it.

Someone recently asked me about how I mixed my music after writing it. My answer is quite simple: right in Renoise! The power of this program grows exponentially for me each time I use it, it’s almost like someone downloaded my brain, deciphered exactly the right DAW for me, and put it all together into an ever-growing and easy to use environment. It’s too bad that some people are turned off by tracking software. All I can say to them is that Renoise is miles beyond any classic tracking program, like ScreamTracker from the 90′s, and is growing in powerful features ridiculously at this point.

Filed Under: General

For a Minimalist, Small Changes Yield Big Rewards

Posted on October 2, 2010 by JS • 4 Comments

My pencil cup: Before

No pencil cup: After

This may seem silly to some who read this, but the above two pictures yield a major breakthrough in my quest to become more Minimal and Essentialize my stuff.

I’ve basically been on a relentless pursuit (for the last decade) to pare my belongings down to the Essential and go through every single item I own. After years of peeling away the layers, I had a recent breakthrough: I have no reason to own or use a pencil cup.

About 15 years ago, I worked at any office supply store and got to know all the office accouterments more intimately than I ever wanted. When I first got my own place, I started to buy some of this stuff to get “organized”. So naturally, I bought a nice looking pencil cup (see awesome photo above), because…well, I needed one, right?

Office Supplies Help You Organize! Um, No Thanks…

Through the years, whenever a pen or pencil would come my way, I’d just throw it in the pencil cup because “I might need it someday”. Even though I have a favorite type of pen that I really love working with (Pilot Precise v5, Extra Fine, Black), I would keep all those crappy pens you’d get from insurance agents, car shops, banks…everywhere. Every once in a while I’d trim that pencil cup mess down and pull out the ugliest pens and pencils and feel good that I ‘organized’ my stuff.

Fast forward to a couple years ago when I first started putting on my new Minimalism glasses and started seeing the world through a very different set of eyes. I’d keep glancing at that pencil cup and knew that even though it held my pens and pencils up oh-so-beautifully, I knew that I would have to eventually tackle this symbol of un-necessity.  Day after day, however, I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of these mounds of free pens and no-eraser pencils.

What finally did it for me was this small but major realization: why am I still using pencils?

At the time I realized that, I only used pencils for one purpose and I quickly realized it made no difference whether it was a pencil or a pen. Honestly, I hate using pencils (and mechanical ones even more), so I pulled all the crappy pens and all my chewed-up pencils out of that thing and felt very, very satisfied.

Once I cleared that out, it became obvious that I had no need for a pencil cup in the first place.

I’ve come full circle since the office supply store days where I would tout the virtues of desktop organizers. The moment I got rid of that pencil cup it gave me such a sense of satisfaction that I felt a need to dedicate an entire post to this process.

As an added bonus, I was able to get rid of an electric and manual pencil sharpener. A reminder to me that each item you own often brings other ‘necessary’ add-ons of its own. How good is a pencil without a pencil sharpener, or vice-versa?

What does this really mean?

Is this post about getting rid of pens and pencil cups? Not really. I just wanted to make the point that once you get rid of the crap around you that you don’t really like, need, or want — you gain a powerful sense of what you really do like, need, and want. Deciding what stays and what goes becomes easier after each success and with that you become more confident about who you are as a person.

Small changes really do yield big rewards and the personal satisfaction that I got from this decade-long quest is beyond profound. My desk is so much cleaner and my focus has increased dramatically.

Update: Since I downgraded my collection again, picture 2 is outdated. I only have one Pilot Precise on my desk and one Sharpie. Now that I’m looking at the pic, I’m wondering when/if I will actually use that highlighter…

Filed Under: General