A Strange But Beautiful Flower Has Died

When Amy Winehouse died of an overdose at such a young age, I felt worse about her death than I expected to.  She’s not someone I listen to all the time.  But the first time I heard her, it only took a few seconds before I realized that hers was one of the most powerful and unique voices anywhere.  It was all the more remarkable for issuing from her slight, often maltreated body.

I’ll confess that at times when hearing about her more wayward antics, I would sometimes judgmentally shake my head (or even chuckle) and think that someone should do an intervention.  But it’s never that simple, as any addict will tell you.

I was thinking about how badly I felt when I heard the news.  I do like an underdog, and she certainly didn’t make it based on looks.  She created her own bizarre style, and despite the fact that my dress style would never be called edgy, I enjoyed her sartorial sorties just as I enjoy Lady Gaga’s insane getups.  I was also hoping that she would pull it together, that she was still young enough to recover.  It’s how many of us feel about addicts we see from a distance or in our own family.  The thought of losing a very talented daughter with a very promising life ahead of her is singularly horrible.  I think many of us can think of someone who is troubled, yet impervious to help and unable to care for themselves.

Will Anyone Like Her Pass This Way Again?

Reality talent shows are a mixed blessing.  I find the crop of singers from American Idol to be tiresome (with the exception of the Pants On The Ground guy), even the ones with good pipes.  They’re all filtered through those particular judges, so even though there is an audience voting component, the contestants that are approved by the gatekeepers are skilled, but pretty conventional.  I love Christina Aguilera, but how many clones of her do we really need?  Even Idol winners are using autotune on their recordings, which is just sad.  Extreme cheapness at work, and if I were a great singer, I’d be embarrassed to use it.  Pop radio, at least where I live, consists almost entirely of autotuned, freeze-dried Clearchannel dreck.  I’m very thankful for the Internet, which allows me to find music of quality and variety.

Amy was the opposite of this – just a very raw, pure voice with a great band and arrangements, no slick tricks at all, and I have the utmost respect for that.  It’s sad that you may never hear anyone like that anymore on pop radio.  Fortunately, there will always be people with raw talent, and instead of looking for it on the pop charts, it must be actively sought out.  Music is becoming more local all the time.  Sure, there are a few people making lots of money, and they motivate the rabidly excited reality-show contestants.  But for the 99.9 percent of us who don’t win contests, musical success will be modest and local.

Though there are a number of excellent young female soul singers in Britain these days, Amy was a one-off.  Her smoky, soulful wail was singularly emotional and beautiful, authentic and real without being harsh.

A Surprising Tribute from Russell Brand

If you’ve heard Russell Brand on a talk show, you’ll know that he is one of the wackiest, funniest, most manic guys in the entertainment industry.  But he has a past of addiction, and is certainly well aware of all the horrors and self-deceptions that go along with that.  Fortunately, he recovered, has been clean for a number of years, and has lived to tell the tale.  It’s always very interesting to me when someone with a usually wild personality turns around and shows a reflective side.  Chris Rock also comes to mind.  Brand lived in the same neighborhood as Amy, and his tribute to Amy is one of the most touching and beautiful things I’ve read anytime recently.  Apart from the accolades given in the unique Brand style, it gives a rare glimpse into the mindset of people suffering from similar demons for those of us who haven’t experienced it firsthand.  What he described was more revealing than dozens of articles I’d read about addiction.  I was not aware of how close he came to being consumed in the same flame himself.

Thanks for the beauty you created, Amy.  It’s terrible that you’re gone, and so many of us miss you.

Conde Hermanos Flamenco Guitar - you can see the golpeador if you look closely

Because I’m a flamenco guitarist, people often ask me about this, because they look pretty similar.  Let me tell you a little story.

Once upon a time there were two brothers.  Their musical talent was evident very early on, and they both took up guitar.  Though they enjoyed listening to electric guitar, they were more drawn to the very special sound of acoustic guitars with nylon strings.  No doubt part of this was due to their parents, who would listen to classical and Spanish music.

José was an excellent student, nearly always at the top of his class, and he quickly gained notoriety through performing classical guitar at recitals.  He spent hours every day practicing guitar exercises and memorizing music scores.  His classical guitar teacher was strict, emphasizing discipline and a strong work ethic.  José admired the elegant sound and fluid technique of people like Pepe Romero.  Upon finishing high school, his skill was such that he gained a scholarship to attend a very fancy music school.

Eduardo took a different route.  He didn’t like school, and didn’t really enjoy the silent atmosphere in recitals.  Instead, he began playing with groups in town as soon as he was able, splitting his time with electric and nylon-string guitar.  He was drawn to the passion and wildness of flamenco, with the dancers’ lightning footwork and the raw cry of flamenco song, and his idol was Paco De Lucia.  He liked being spontaneous, and preferred playing and jamming with others to long hours of solitary practice.  He mostly learned by watching others and developing the ability to play by ear.

José played a rather expensive classical guitar, and he treated it with kid gloves to keep it in pristine condition.  Eduardo’s flamenco guitar had a tap plate (golpeador) so he could play percussive sounds on the top without damaging his guitar, and this allowed him to indulge his enjoyment of a wilder style of playing.  Their mother scrupulously avoided favoring one son over the other, as she loved both.  But deep down she had to admit that she wished that Eduardo would settle down, be a little more dignified, and frankly, play more like José, whose style was more suited to her taste.  José didn’t mind if Eduardo tried out his guitar,  but admonished him not to damage the top.  Their father had done stints as a gigging musician before becoming a doctor, and though he was somewhat concerned about Eduardo’s penchant for being a free spirit and having partying friends, a part of him vicariously enjoyed his son’s sense of musical adventure.

José performed concertos and studied hard at Eastman School of Music.  As he approached graduation, he pondered his career options.  It seemed to him that he could try the classical guitar competition route to see if he could rise to the top of the small classical guitar world, and make a living playing concerts, recitals, and seminars.  Short of that, he figured he could land a teaching position at a university if he were to get a graduate degree.

Eduardo finished high school, but without any academic honors.   He traveled to Spain to get even more steeped in the flamenco traditions, and after meeting lots of people and getting his name around, he began to break into the professional flamenco scene in Sevilla.  His parents were supportive of his travel, but when he didn’t return home to go to college, they became worried about his future.  Eduardo’s father, though concerned, was glad that his son was pursuing what had once  been his own dream, and he finally managed to assuage some of his wife’s fears about an unstable type of career.

The brothers spent some years struggling to each find their own path.  During this time the brothers made little contact with each other, but eventually they had a rapprochement and struck upon the idea of seeing if their styles could be combined.  After some writing and rehearsing, they wound up doing a series of duo concerts, making their parents very happy.

I hope that you enjoyed this little bit of illustrative, if corny, fiction.      In a more literal sense, a flamenco guitar is quite similar to a classical guitar.  It generally is built of lighter wood, which helps make the characteristic bright flamenco tone that can be heard amongst flamenco dancers, which is no mean feat.  Its golpeador is made of hard plastic, and protects the top of the instrument.  The classical guitar, in turn, is usually made of heavier, denser wood, which gives a rich, warm tone and held notes tend to sustain longer.  If you want to get a fine flamenco guitar, like the one I have, or a fine classical guitar, I would recommend Andy Culpepper, who lives in the Ithaca, NY area.

But I was very pleasantly surprised by this show.  The quality of the talent is extremely high.  Almost every group is excellent, highly entertaining, and has an original twist.  Contrast that to America’s Got Talent, where not only do you have to wade through lots of egregious acts, but some of the singers that get voted through for multiple rounds are pretty dreadful.

I wondered why the Sing-Off was so different.  I think it comes down to a couple things.  The show runs its course quite quickly, so it stands to reason that they’d winnow it down early so as not to waste time with bad acts.  Also, not having the audience vote each week helps, I think.  Audiences vote for many things other than talent.  Sometimes it’s a back story, sometimes just looks, sometimes it’s identification with an aspect of the contestant, anything but the actual ability.  It’s also possible that because it’s a capella music, there may be fewer groups to choose from.

Nick, the host, is kind of funny.  He looks good, he is pleasant enough, and has a nice-sounding voice.  But he sounds like he’s just reading cue cards.  And he comes from the Brooke Burke School of Interviewing:  nothing spontaneous, thank you very much, stick to stock phrases, and when you can’t think of anything, go with the tritest possible cliche:  “How do you feel?”  At least both of them are good-looking.  I’m a little sorry to say that, because when Brooke was dancing on DWTS, I liked her a lot.

In a way I like what Glee is doing, featuring quite a bit of singing.  But it’s really annoying to hear those guys using Autotune.  Even though as a musician I usually find Autotune to be lazy way out and even in bad taste, I do think it has its place, and I actually prefer to hear it when it’s a bit more cranked up and used more as a special effect, like T-Pain, Cher, or someone like that.  Using it in an honest and even creative way.   But using it on a show where singers are the focus?  How pitifully lame can you get?  Is their budget so small that they can’t pay for enough studio time to get it right with real singing?  No, so it must be just plain laziness and stinginess.  It’s also possible that the people they have really can’t cut it as singers – certainly boatloads of singers must be dying to get on that show, but they’re probably just not cute enough, not perky enough, the wrong ethnicity, or aren’t good enough actors.

And as far as trying to use it undetected – don’t even try.  To anyone with a decent ear, it’s as obvious as a really bad toupee.  And I’m even hearing some of the very best singers using it.  I give them an F+, although their producers probably deserve as much blame.

With the scourge of Autotune filling our pop airwaves, it makes me enjoy and respect the groups on the Sign-Off even more.  Their harmonizing, arranging, soloists, and creativity are spectacular!  The finals are tomorrow, and I could almost vote for any group to win, they’re so good.

But like any special effect, it’s only effective if used judiciously, and that means actually stopping once in awhile.  So the basic problem you see is profligate use.

But now there’s a special annoying new development: excellent singers using it.  This is baffling to me; if I were a top singer, it would be a badge of honor not to use it.  I’m not fond of Kelly Clarkson’s music, but I do think that she’s a skilled singer.   So why does she need Autotune?  To me, it’s unmistakable on her latest big ballad hit.  It’s possible to set it more subtly so that the uninitiated will not know.  But even at a low setting, to me it’s like a very phony coating over the note, kind of like gold-plated Jello.  It’s especially obvious when the singer does an interval jump.  I’d rather hear the Autotone cranked up high and obvious, like Cher did with her big hit she had when Autotune was first heard in the wild.  It’s just more honest, and to me, somewhat more respectable than trying to scam your way through undetected.

I’d bet that the reason for good singers using it, apart from occasional laziness and not wanting to do yet another take, is simple budgeting, just like everything else now: it’s cheaper to fix something with Autotune, or even have the singer (or in some cases, “singer”) use it up front to make absolutely sure there will be no mistakes.  Boom, one take, you’re done, lower studio time bill.  Like, totally cool?  So the old work ethic and self-respect are replaced with a Walmart cheapo approach to record making.  Hey, the record sounds perfect, and is cheaper to make.  Break me off a piece of that perfect corporate gold-plated Jello, cheapness rulez!

Whereas the classical-style position using a footstool produces a pretty good ergonomic position for the arms, I’ve generally opted for the informal flamenco position. My hands are pretty strong and flexible, so I can actually do pretty well either way.  However, I’ve done really long solo gigs, and these can be tiring. In those cases, I would switch from one position to the other every so often, and that was helpful.

I’ve always been a little resistant to the traditional classical position. For one thing, I don’t like carrying a footstool. I also am not especially classical in my mindset. Finally, though the footstool position is pretty good for the hands, I still find the footstool method to be uncomfortable for long periods of time.

Enter the Ergoplay Support. This attaches to your guitar with suction cups, and it becomes a guitar rest that sits on your leg.  The beauty of it is that you get the hand benefits of the classical position, but both your feet are on the floor, so it’s better for your back, and back fatigue was what made the footstool position annoying for me.

I’ve had mine for a couple weeks now, and I love it. I can even use it while sitting on the floor. Things are just easier to reach, and I don’t get tired as fast now. The playing position is good for either hand, and my technique has suddenly gotten a big boost. When the hands are happy, the music comes through more easily.  And playing tricky classical material, like Jesu, does often work better playing in this position.

When using the informal position, I have an old habit of staring at my left hand while playing, and my head tilts and turns toward the guitar neck. With the support, I tend to avoid this old habit more, and often don’t look at the neck much at all. There are two benefits to this – one is that your neck doesn’t get tired being in that funny position, and besides, I find that when not looking at the guitar, I can concentrate more on the sound and feeling of the music, and that’s been very exciting.

The only downside I’m aware of is that if you have a matte finish on your guitar, or a fancy French polish, the Ergoplay’s suction cups could do a number on it. Ergoplay includes material that you can stick on the matte finish, and then you attach the suction cups to that material instead.  But I’ve read that some fancy and finicky guitars don’t like that stuff either. But if you have a glossy nitro finish, you should be OK.