Been trying out new camera

Just as the title says, I have been trying out my new camera. Not much today at all though. I have been sleeping most of the day. I am catching on sleep I missed before my overnight shift the previous night. I should be better prepared for the 10 pm - 7 pm shift this time. Man, God really is teaching me something here - I just know it. I have barely started, but I can feel him leading me somewhere with this. He's totally in the "storm." I say storm because the body feels that with the "sleep shock." haha. It all depends on your attitude. I can do all things through Christ. I just have to want to. I am in my own unique situation, as everyone on this earth is, and I must make the best of it. I just woke up 30 minutes ago and I am feeling alright. By the time my shift rolls around I will be spiff!

I will eventually get around to editing my documented video adventure of getting my new camera. I just need to find out how resolve the story. It is a cool camera. I have taken cool pictures and one really neat video with Jordan. He is my cameraman in this video:

Updates

Just restrung my Drop B guitar. Working on a playing a cover of Demon Hunter's "One Thousand Apologies." That's a great ballad by them. Yes, it's in Drop B. I'm anxious to do a dual cover of RED's songs "Feed the Machine" and "Faceless." I want to do one live take, one after the other. I will switch from my Drop A guitar to my Drop B guitar for the appropriate song tunings. I really wanted to wait until I get an HD camera. I'm not sure if I can wait that long. I am saving up for a Canon T3i. I am almost there. I think I can reach this amount in a few months if all goes well, budget wise. My latest video is a short tutorial on how my setup is wired. I was not ready to show anything new, as far as compositions go, and so I cooked up that video for you. I am finalizing my song "Surge" and will hopefully get it mixed and mastered soon. That may set me back further from the T3i though. My subscriptions haven't been growing as of late for my new artist channel. I'm guessing it's just not drawing attention yet. Maybe when I get Surge complete, I can promote the video and people will see my channel. Again, costs money. Perhaps people will support me though. ;)

By the way, I don't seem to be sore from my 3.6 mile walk I took yesterday. :)

haha. Can you count how many times I said "I" in my first paragraph?

Brandon

RED: Faceless (exclusive)

This is my cover of this song you will only find on my blog. When I get an HD camera, I will re-shoot the songs Feed the Machine and Faceless for a dual cover.



Guitar: (cheap) Ibanez IJX 121
Strings: Ernie Ball 12-56
Tone: POD Farm 2 (chain & settings below)

Noise Gate > Tube Screamer > Cali Diamond Plate > 4x12 Treadplate

Gate
Threshold: -41dB; Decay: 0%

Pedal
Drive & Gain: 11 o'clock; Tone: 2 o'clock

Amp
Drive: 10 o'clock; Bass: 8-9 o'clock; Mid: 9-10 o'clock; Treb: 4 o'clock; Pres: 5 o'clock

Cab
28% room; 57 mic off axis

Wishing for an HD cam

Okay. I have been wanting to do something with a cover. I want to cover "Faceless" by RED. But I want to record it in HD. I was thinking of waiting until I get an HD camera, and couple it with "Feed the Machine."

I was looking at some cameras online today. I saw some Sony camcorders. I want 1920x1080 resolution and 60 frames per second. An auto focus would be great too. I don't know when I'll be able to get a new camera as these suckers are so expensive.

I may just need to tough it out with SD quality for now.

Songs to Cover

So I came up with a list of songs that I should cover for you guys.

Demon Hunter
-Descending upon us
-Snap your fingers, snap your neck

The first song is a little challenging and it requires a bit more work. I'm learning it by ear and by tab from www.ultimate-guitar.com. (Always gotta check with your own ear - sometimes the tab is wrong.

The second song is quite simple and really fun! Kudos to the bassist who gives the guitarist a break. Listen to it to know what I mean. :)


Skillet
-Comatose
-Hero

I already did do 'Monster' (several times...LOL) and 'Awake and Alive' (tube screamer demo). Just check out my channel use the search function.

'Hero' is hard for me - mainly the rhythm. Needs a lot of work. Haven't practiced it in a while.

'Comatose' is kinda easy - just needs a little bit more practice.


Red
-Faceless
-Watch you crawl

The first song is fun and I almost have it down. The picking part in the middle is a bit tough. I'm using the YouTube lesson from the band guitarist.

'Watch you crawl' is really tough on the rhythm and I've only tried a little bit of it.


These are just some songs I could cover in the not-so-distant future. I might cover something else first, but subscribe to my YouTube channel if you want to see my videos. I know of the requests I have had, and I try not to make promises just in case, but I do still have them on the list. I do consider them. Thank you.

-Brandon

The best is yet to come

Hello everybody!

Wow, how time has flown by so quickly! I remember the first day of college as though it were yesterday. I know that's what we all say, but it's true in a sense. We keep our most cherished memories vivid in our minds as to not forget them. I wore my Three Rivers shirt the first and last days of every semester. I took 63 hours with an overall average GPA of 3.762. All of my classes were 3 credit hours, except one 6 hour class that was my internship with the IT Department. It's amazing how much information that can be hurled at us in such a short time.

I have had a lot of experiences, met many new people, became acquainted with many, and friends with a few. Some experiences and decisions affected me for life, and some are just short term. We have only one life to live. We must live it to the fullest.....with God. You knew I would say that, didn't you? You may not have liked that I said it. I may have made you feel uncomfortable. But the fact is - we will all die one day. This life is not all there is. We must make a decision. Will we accept who our Creator is, or will we reject Him? My friend, if you don't let God become a part of your life, one day you will regret it. I can't change reality. You must choose.

I thank God that He rescued me from going to Hell. When I was 8 years old, I accepted that God sent His Son to die for me (you too) because He loves me (and you too). I asked Jesus to forgive me of my sins (things we do wrong) and to become a part of my life. To do this, you must give full control to Him. You can't do it on your own. Sure, we're gonna mess up. We're not perfect, but God loved us so much that He wanted to rescue us from eternal separation from Him. You see, we all are sinners, and God cannot look on sin. To get to Heaven on our own we have to live a perfect life. That's impossible. So God provided a way. God's only Son, Jesus, was the perfect sacrifice for us because He came to this earth and lived a perfect life. All we have to do is accept this - admit we can't do it on our own. God knows the heart - it's not about words.

Anyway, I know God has a plan for me. Just like the song "Best is yet to come" written by the band RED, the best is yet to come, because God's plans are always the best. He knows our lives backwards and forwards. I covered RED's song, and you can find me playing it on YouTube in my cap and gown.

Peace out, ladies and gentlemen.


-Brandon Burch

Goodbye Vox VT 30 amp

Today I sold my Vox VT 30 amp. I no longer enjoyed the sound. It's too thin for my taste. I'm searching for another amp. This is a long term goal, as the tone I am seeking will require a fat wallet.

Even before I sold this amp (I was thinking about it) I played a Marshall Haze 15 in a store close to me. It sounded nice - at least for the first amp I ever tried in my searching. It had a great gain. However, I had a inkling I would not enjoy it for long. The amp just didn't impress me all that much. It was a good smaller size, but it definitely wasn't a 10/10...more like a 7/10.

But after all, it was only the first amp I tried. I had to play on some more before I made a final decision. I tried a few other smaller amps in the store, but none came close to the Haze 15. The clerk even cranked it up for me to play to hear what it would really do. Wow. Loud. Big. Cool.

When I sold my amp today at another guitar shop, I played on two bigger amps that really impressed me. They were a Mesa Boogie Mark Five and a Marshall JCM 2000 Dual Super Lead. They were BIG amps! One of these definitely would be too big for my room. Perhaps having a bigger room and a fatter wallet will go hand in hand in years to come.

The Mesa I played had the most complex and customizable head I had ever seen! The clerk walked me through so many different tones possible on that amp. It was very expensive though. Nevertheless, I was very impressed with the amp, and with what I've seen so far, I'd give it a 10/10.

You can see the two amps I played are sitting side by side. How convenient!

The Marshall JCM was very cool and had a killer high gain tone, just as the Mesa. However, the fact that it didn't have a wide variety of tones was a disadvantage. I'd give it a 9/10 for that reason. However, it was half the price because it was used. That didn't make any difference anyway. I have no where near the money for either of these amps. Let's just call this a very long term goal. Perhaps it would span a few years from now.

I was thinking of getting a Mesa Dual Rectifier as Anthony Armstrong has in the band RED, but I haven't even tried it, and yet again, a new amp that I would enjoy the most is way out of my price range.

So what do I have for an amp now, you ask? I have a cheap Ibanez GTA 15R. That and a Tube Screamer guitar pedal is what I'll use to produce live performances for others. But I usually use POD Farm anyway. The reason I sold the Vox right now is because I don't use it anyway - except for clean channel occasionally, but I can get that from my little amp. I didn't see much sense keeping it if I wasn't happy with it. I just got a little bit of store credit. :)

And so the tone adventure continues!

While I was there at the shop playing on these amps, I also dropped off my red Jackson SLSMG for modification and setup. I am getting it modified for Drop A tuning! I'm going to use GHS Baritone Guitar strings (14-70 gauge). This will definitely be heavy! It will probably be the end of next week when I get the Jackson back. In the meantime, I will be playing my two Ibanezes.

RED's New Music Video