Wednesday, February 29, 2012

"Surge" solo lesson sneak peek

Hey guys.

I hope you all will take advantage of these sneak previews of my stuff. (Otherwise I wasting time writing. Let me know if you are reading these.) As some of you may already know, I am working on a guitar solo lesson coming this Saturday. It is on my progressive metal song "Surge" - a track in progress. =P

Here is a screenshot for part of the tabulator. This is the first time I have used Guitar Pro. It's actually TuxGuitar, but it works the same way and saves in GP5 format. The file will be in GP5, but don't worry, for those of you who can't grab a copy of Guitar Pro, or the free TuxGuitar program, I will provide a PDF of the guitar solo as well. Let me know if I also need to provide it in GP3 or GP4, as this program (TuxGuitar) saves in that format as well. Maybe you only have Guitar Pro 3. I think I should put Guitar Pro 6 on my wishlist. xD

I'm really excited about all of this!

-Brandon


Thursday, February 23, 2012

More progress on my new track

I have nearly completed the writing process of my track called, "Surge".

I really am enjoying this song. I have implemented a few time signature changes. Most of the song is in headbanging 4/4 time. The first change is 6/4 time, the second time the riff is played in the song, followed by a 7/4 time signature. I think I want to try out 5/4. Or maybe 9/8. Actually...that's the same thing. 9/8 is just a 4/4 and then a 5/4 right afterwards. But I guess the riff could be 9 bars long before a change.

This song is constantly evolving so the listener is not bored so easily. The riffs are hardly ever the same the next time you hear them in the track. I am blasting through my software POD Farm. I am emulating a 5150 amp head. Those things are monsters for heavy metal. If you have POD Farm 2 and the Metal Shop expansion download the tone here. I am playing my cheap Ibanez IJX 121 guitar for the rhythms, and my Ibanez RG350DX for the guitar solo. I am tuned to Drop B for my rhythms. I used Ernie Ball Not Even Slinkys, 12-56 string gauge.

My influences for this song are Demon Hunter, RED, Aria, WideK, Skillet, Hope for the dying, Kreepmaster, and the Guitar Master Class online site. I'm sure there are many more, but I would say this is a good list.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Dollar Warfare | Zombie Infestation

Our second short film by my brother and me. We shot this video at Christmas while on vacation with the family. No blood or gore.

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Becoming a music artist

ANALYZED WITHIN


This is what I am going to call myself. I will start releasing music soon I hope.
Subscribe to my new artist channel! :)

Friday, February 17, 2012

Quick Drop A riff

This just came to me a few minutes ago. I am on lunch break from work.

Saturday, February 11, 2012

My brother as Mario

This is Jordan's first Mario short film. He did the classic 2D look and emulated the look of him going through the levels. Use your imagination and it will be even better!! I think he did a very swell job. :)

Breaking Wind

I was at work today and needed some warmer gloves to retrieve the shopping carts off the lot. My supervisor said those rubber automotive gloves would work. (I had used them before for getting ice, and so I knew they'd work better than my cloth gloves.) So rather loudly I said, "Oh yeah! Those will really break wind!" .... I had to laugh at myself with everyone else that heard me. It was better than being embarrassed. Oh man... xD

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Making a difference (you should read this)

I don't each much at McDonald's anymore (as it is unhealthy), but when I did this young woman would occasionally be the one taking the drive-through order. She is always very nice. She treats her customers as royalty. You just don't see that enough, especially in fast food. This young woman has come through my register line at Walmart a few times. Last time she came through I felt the prompting of the Holy Spirit to "make a difference." I hesitated, but did finally say at the end of the transaction I had been through McDonald's a lot in the past. I told her how I could always count on her to be nice and I really appreciated it. Of course, she said thank you. I made her day. I could tell. And wouldn't you be smiling? After those years of hard work, never knowing the difference you had made, someone comes along and tells you how much they appreciate you.

I will bet she will remember me now. I'm probably not going to be among the "sea of faces." Do you often wonder if you ever make differences in people's lives? Well, I do. And believe it or not, we all make some sort of difference. Just think right now - what if you were never born - try to think what it would be like for those around you - without YOU. You are a very special person. God has a plan for you and he has a plan for me. He's got everybody's life planned out. But think if you weren't here. Would people's lives be drastically changed, or just slightly? Either way, our very presence in this world makes some sort of a difference. God doesn't create anybody without a purpose. Don't believe me?

~ The most important part ~
In the Bible, there is a book called John. In chapter 6, verse 40 Jesus tells us that it's the will of God the Father that everybody believes in what Jesus did for them, relying on him to take our blame and guilt. He died and was separated from the Father for us all so we wouldn't have to be for all of eternity. You don't have to fix your life before you come to him. You can't. You just can't. Jesus does it for you. He the best "soul mechanic" around, and better yet he's free! Jesus wants to become a part of your life. All you have to do is let go - let go of your ways and let Jesus have the wheel of your life. He will set you free. You see? He has a purpose for everyone, even you.


If you are already saved as a believer in Christ, I rejoice!! I will see you at the pearly gates, but are you letting him use you to make a difference? What I mean is, are you looking for opportunities to help people who need the Lord or just need encouragement? They are out there, people. More than there are not. God tells us many find the wide path of the world, but few will find Jesus. (This brings tears to my eyes.)

Go make a difference in the world. Change the world one person at a time. There's not much time.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Writing metal in Drop B

I posted the below video on YouTube yesterday. Here it is now on my blog with a little more of the back story.



I'm calling this song "Hard drive failure." =D At least right now anyways. I've experienced the failure of a hard drive a couple of times in my life and know how it feels. My external hard drive is messed up. I can't access it. I hope I can one day access it on my own or I've lost some important videos and pictures.

Demon Hunter is a big inspiration for this song. Their cover of Snap your fingers, snap your neck gave me a line or two in this song. A Romanian metal band Aria, with the guitarist Cosmin Lupu, was also an inspiration. Red inspired my use of a chord progression. WideK inspired a riff I am putting after the chorus.

I'll be posting my tone soon. But I'm using a Criminal amp in POD Farm, which is the same thing as the popular 5150 amp. I posted a clip of this song on my SoundCloud, but I have since then re-recorded the guitars. Keep a watch on that page, because I'll be posting another clip soon.

I'm using my cheap guitar: Ibanez IJX 121, tuned to Drop B, with Ernie Ball 12-56 strings.

Cheers!!
Brandon

Monday, February 6, 2012

Featured on USA Patriotism!

Hey, I got a YouTube message from USA Patriotism today stating I had been selected for listing in its video section!! This was in regard to my God Bless America arrangement I did for July 2011.

USA Patriotism! is the top ranked site about love and pride of America with thousands of pages showcasing poems, articles, stories, quotes, photos, songs / music, videos, thoughts, images, and references . . . all in tribute to country, troops and veterans, heroes, Presidents, other great Americans, memorable events, and more. Its mission is to foster better awareness, reinforcement, and display of love and pride of America by her citizens with the hope of developing a better understanding and friendlier attitude about the USA from citizens of other countries.

Check out my very own link HERE!! This is so cool!
-Brandon


USA Patriotism!
http://www.usa-patriotism.com 
patriots@usa-patriotism.com
"Love and pride of America!"

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Walking Again

I started walking again today for the first time in many months. Next I guess is weightlifting. hehe. But for now, I'm wanting to get back in shape and feel great overall. I also want to raise my stamina. I'm tired of depleting my energy so quickly when I do strenuous labor. Not that my job requires anything too strenuous. Clearing the lot of shopping carts is hardly strenuous when you are primarily a cashier. My body has adjusted to this new job and can take the occasional lot clearing. I actually enjoy the fresh air and feeling my heart beat in my chest. This is what I felt today as I walked my mile and one half.

I want to make this a regular routine, if you will. It's not like I don't walk anywhere at all, you know, I just want to walk more than I am required to complete a day. I was walking for a while last year, I think it was, but then I quit.

I listened to my silver 3rd generation iPod nano as I walked today. Want to know what I listened to? ...Most of Andy James' shred metal instrumental album of 2011. Here's Andy performing one of his songs on that album.
I will continue it tomorrow. I am trying to work my way up with walking. I could have easily kept walking, but it's so easy to overdo it. I surely didn't want to hurt myself, so I played it safe with 1.5 miles. It's just a rough estimate, but from my house to the track at the park it is a half mile, so I just figured that in.

I've been battling a cold this week. My mom has given me some all-natural remedies and I have also resorted to medicines. I've been at work all week with this cold, but I'm off tomorrow. I hope to recuperate (for the most part) so I may return to work as more of myself. I look forward to the choice of when I may walk tomorrow since I am off work. Sunset after work was a little chilly to walk, but doable.

EDIT: Unfortunately the 3rd was a rainy day and would not do well for my sinuses. No walk today.