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Cookies, films, and analog effects

I have so many things I want to blog about, so I will do so now as my cookies are baking. Yes, I am baking oatmeal Chocolate chip cookies (don't worry Matthew, I would never consider making raisin cookies) because I finally found the recipe after searching for it all week. Ok, let's get down to business. I will leave my guitar/pedals writing stuff until my last paragraph so that those of you who hate that stuff can stop reading before getting that far.

First, let's talk about the film I rented a few nights ago. (I know, I am really living it up, and blowing all my money; but it was worth it on this one). I rented "Stranger Than Fiction" and I really loved it. It was quite enjoyable and original in some ways while still seeming humble. Do you know what I mean? Like, some movies (like "The Illusionist") act like they are some sort of brilliant film that is supposed to blow you away, while you can see through the whole story the whole time. Ya, the Illusionist was a crap movie and nothing even close to as good as "The Prestige". I don't know why I mentioned that film except for the fact that some people might go trying to rent "The Prestige and end up with the all time worst case scenario of walking home with "The Illusionist" instead. (Man! what was Edward Norton even thinking?) (Man! what was I thinking? Never give a film a chance based on the actors in it. Am I being too cruel? I just think you can choose a film to view based on a director, but never an actor. Why do I get so mean and mouthy when I blog? I feel bad now.
So, I just realized that "Stranger Than Fiction" is probably what inspired me to bake cookies this week; because of that scene where he enjoys the same kind so immensely. I guess I can also relate to his excitement with his Fender guitar. What I really grabbed me in this film was the (probably unintentional) allusion to the Garden of Gethsemane. This probably makes me an obsessed religious nut for even pointing this out, but isn't all of the true beauty in this film directly due to the story's similarity to the story of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. The decision/obedience/actions of Jesus are duplicated in this story to a lesser degree. Even though this story isn't as brilliant and poetic as that of Jesus', it resonates with me because of its similarities.
Ok, so it's now Pedaltalk time again so Anh, you can stop reading now. It's time for an update. I bought a Behringer Expression/Volume pedal last time I was in Calgary. It seemed to work fine with my digital Zoom pedal, even though I didn't quite get the right chord to connect it. (I got a Y chord from TRS to two TS ends but it should have TRS to TRS. Anyways, after goofing with it for about a week, I have officially decided to return it. I'm not sick of wah effects yet but rather, I am sick of digital effects. Yes, that's right; I've decided to go analog. I have reached that point now. I used my guitar amp last night with just my Telecaster for the first time and I was rather impressed at the tones. Now, you should know that my amp is a VERY old Traynor 200Watt tube amp with no sorts of distortion really available. It has some reverb and a tremolo though. However, by cranking the volume for the channel and then just turning down the Master volume I could get a slight distortion that I rather enjoyed. It seems like the perfect amount of distortion for most of the stuff that we play so far in church, with much better tone than my digital pedal. So, I've decided to build from there. I will return last week's purchase. I already won an auction on eBay this afternoon for a used Dunlop Cry Baby wah pedal for quite a deal. Then, I will slowly add some analog pedals. I would like the option of some more distortion (a bit heavier sound) and so my first pedal may be something along those lines. I've considered the Boss DS-1 but I will consult some expert guitar store guys desperately trying to earn commission. Maybe I will get a footswitch for my amp's tremolo. I still greatly revere Tom Morello and his creative sounds so I will likely continue to try emulating some of his tones. Maybe down the road I will even consider the Digitech Whammy Pedal, if I could find one for cheap. Maybe a delay pedal first, (although that might be one use for my digital pedal). So, my analog journey begins.

Hey Tom, come join my band

Ok, I know I do this likely at the cost of losing any remaining readers, but I have to make one more post about guitar stuff. Well, Actually, this post is about Tom Morello. Ever since I did my random contest last post, I have actually researched this guitarist a bit more. Now, as circumstances would have it, he is currently my all-time favorite guitarist. I love this guy's talent and creativity. It would also so happen that he seems like a rather tolerable, friendly, and likable guy. I was watching some videos on youtube of him explaining how he gets some of his sounds and such. Check out the 3rd part of these clips (click on his picture to view it):

Anyways, I would love to play guitar like him and I could stand to have that kind of creativity. (You should watch the first 2 parts of this video to see how creative he gets with making different sorts of hip-hop sounds and styles with his guitar and pedals).
This is the sort of creativity we should be seeing in our churches. Well, some day I guess. You know; keep some tradition but also push forward and be creative as well. Innovation!

Distortion Thresholds and Pedals

I believe that every song has a distortion/guitar effects threshold. I am trying to nail down how that works exactly. My present thought is that it works somewhat like a game of Blackjack: The more you increase the amount of distortion, the more you increase the power of the song; BUT the moment you cross a certain line, all is lost and the song loses all its power. You can argue that this is subjective for each person, but I am going to pretend right now that this is an objective truth. Of course, depending on the style of effect, or type or distortion, this threshold will vary. For example, if it is a 60s fuzz style distortion with fat bass, the threshold for the song may be very small or nil, while a Peavey tube amp overdrive sound may have a much larger threshold for that very same song. That's just an example and I'm not sure if that is ever the case. So, when playing electric guitar the challenge is always to find the right type of distortion out of your available options and figure out what the gain threshold is for that song. (haha, this almost sounds like I know what I'm talking about) Of course, the electric guitar player can always just wuss out and not even try by using a standard clean sound. That's what I end up doing when I don't have enough time to find one. I don't think most electric guitar players have to deal with this on a day to day basis because they mostly get themselves stuck into a certain style of music that they feel comfortable with and then just go with one or two types of effects. But, if you want to play in a church that is truly going to connect with the music styles of the different people, you need to get out and try some new stuff. (Like I always say; not all the music styles will connect with each person but hopefully every person will connect with something.)
Ok now, let's get down to business. I need the help of my readers, which are you. I just spent the last paragraph talking about that which I don't know, so don't be shy to share even if you feel you are unqualified as well. I am looking at getting an expression pedal to plug into my little digital guitar effects pedal. I need your opinions, and remember: value for money is a top priority. The pedal I have is the Zoom505ii which has a lot of varying sounds. I want an expression pedal to plug in so I can take advantage of wah-wah features and such, or use it as a volume pedal. Now they do sell those, but is that really what I want? I heard it is cheaper to just get a basic volume pedal and some special adapters, like the following diagram. Apparently that is just over half the cost of the actual Zoom expression pedal. Do I want to do that? Please tell me. Maybe it is more worth my money to just get a Dunlop Cry Baby like Jimmy Hendrix used. I wonder if it would work to plug one of those into my digital pedal. Any thoughts anyone?

Ok, if you don't feel like you have any information to add to anything previous, perhaps you will step up to this challenge. I will buy a JBC (the next time I see you) for the first person to name the owner of this guitar pedal setup: (Oh Ya! In order to increase my simulated popularity through a comment count, you are only allowed to name one guitarist per comment and you actually have to name him and not just a band he was/is in).

A Lovable Screw-up, but not so lovable

Well, I have a day off now. I neeeeeed some time to relax and I am getting it now. This afternoon I went out for what they call some Redneck church. We went out of town to the gun club yard or the shooting range or whatever they call it with some of the guys from the church. And we shot off a whole bunch of guns. I shot clay pigeons with shotguns, shot some fancy .22s and some deer-hunting rifles and all that jazz. A wild time. It was quite a bit of fun.














These fancy scopes make me feel like a real marksman, hitting gongs and stuff from 200 yards away.Now, I just finished watching a DVD that Joe lent me, called "You, Me, and Depree". It's a cookie-cutter comedy but I really enjoyed it. It won't win any awards but I will admit that it was thoroughly entertaining anyways. Quite fun and funny. I laughed out loud quite a bit even though I watched it alone. Owen Wilson plays a character within his range (which is quite limited), but this one is the most lovable one yet(in my opinion). I believe the character has a humble quality that surpasses all the previous Owen Wilson characters, so he comes off much less annoying. Check it.
By the way, we got the van situation solved. We have some vans offered to us today. Nice!

Incapable of finding Vans

Hi. I need to go to Legacy Youth Conference. I also need to take a butt-load of youth. As it turns out, I am completely incapable of finding a rental company within 2 hours' drive of here that has a 15 passenger van. Did the world stop creating those, or renting those out or something and no one told me? I am having a hard enough time even finding rental companies in my area. I need one of these!!!!!

4 reasons to burn our pews

So, I wrote up this report yesterday morning to present to the senior pastor. I figure this might be a good forum to place these ideas as well. In reality, they are all nothing new, and are done all over the place already. I just formalized it in writing the types of things I would like to see here and am thinking about starting. #1 we already do, but I wrote it down anyways because it relates to the others as well. I know this is boring and nothing new, but I would like your opinions on which ones of these would appeal to you if they were done at your church.

#1) Saturday Night Worship Jam
Purpose: A chance for believers to gather and worship and develop musically and learn new worship songs. For musicians and singers to play and worship together with musicians and singers of other churches. To increase exposure to styles of worship and songs and learn them.
Format: Musicians and singers gather in an informal setting and play worship songs as they are suggested, planned or instigated. Everyone joins in equally to contribute in worship, suggestion, and feedback about possibilities for songs and how they could be done. Sometimes CDs are listened too to learn new songs.
Frequency: weekly

#2) Saturday Night Worship Service
Purpose: A chance for worshipers to gather for worship. To promote and environment of unity among believers. To seek to connect hearts to God in creative worship.
Format: A band is practiced and prepared in advance for these special worship services. The arts are embraced in a service that consists of mostly singing with prayer and scripture readings and a very short message about 2/3rds through.
Frequency: once every couple months or so

#3) Songwriters Development/Feedback Circle
Purpose: To encourage songwriters in their art. To network songwriters and musicians in a method that develops the people and the creative process. An opportunity for the church to promote the creative process and the arts within the community of Elkford. A chance for the church to take its rightful place at the forefront of the music and arts world through encouragement and development and hosting. To introduce non-church people to a church people and building in a non-hostile and positive manner. To create connection between the churches and the community in a way that helps the community.
Format: Signs are put up around town to promote the Circle. Songwriters and music professionals are encouraged to come to share what they are working on and provide encouragement for each other and suggestions in order to assist in the refinement of songs. Participants gather in an informal manner and take turns introducing their songs and playing/singing them so that the group can provide feedback, suggestions and encouragement.
Frequency: once every month or two

#4) Open Mic Coffee House
Purpose: To provide an avenue for songwriters to introduce their songs to the public in a laid-back and encouraging manner. An opportunity for the church to promote the creative process and the arts within the community of Elkford. A chance for the church to take its rightful place at the forefront of the music and arts world through encouragement and development and hosting. To introduce non-church people to a church people and building in a non-hostile and positive manner. To create connection between the churches and the community in a way that helps the community. A fun evening of getting together and connecting.
Format: Signs are put up around town to promote the Coffeehouse event. Everyone in town is welcomed. Songwriters and musicians are encouraged to come to share what they are working on. The place is decorated with ambience (coffee tables, lamps, comfortable chairs). Coffee and other fancy coffee-type beverages are provided. Musicians sign up beforehand to play one of their original pieces or cover a song.
Frequency: quarterly or bi-annually

Sleep When You Are Dead

So, I preach this morning, and apparently I am unable to get much sleep beforehand. At least I will try to get everything ready and packed so I can make my escape to Calgary immediately after the service from the church parking lot.
Anh is singing with the choir at First Alliance this morning, so if you are in Calgary, get over there right away.












Hey, Anh, is this kinda that thing you were talking about?
Click it for the link. Aren't I impressive for my page design today?