My New 6 String Bass Guitar

 

Song:  Until We Meet Again

Composer / Performer:  James Toller

This is my new 6 string bass guitar.

I love it.

When it arrived today...

I was like a child at Christmas.

The middle four strings are just like the standard 4 string bass guitar...

but it comes with an extra low note string and an extra high note one on the outside strings.

I can tune it as a standard 6 string bass guitar...

or I can tune it just as a standard guitar...

but one full octave below it...

just as the bass flute is one octave below the Concert flute...

or in one of the many variational tunings of the 6 string bass guitar.

I have some new compositions to come up with for 

the new book I will soon be starting...

and the music will be using my new 6 string bass and my bass flute.

Even though I have never played the Bass Guitar...

I am confident I will be able to compose music using one...

by ear.

The new book will be called Hunza...

and the main character of the same name

will be playing a homemade extra low version of the Tanpura...

a 4 stringed instrument originating in India...

but also played in Pakistan, as well as in other areas in the world.

You will notice the 6 string bass on the left...

and my relatively new semi hollow body electric guitar on the right...

and of course my classical guitar in the middle...

and my bass flute in front of the computer.

The 6 String Bass has a very wide fret board.

I am excited to soon start playing and composing new music using it.

I gave my old electric guitar to my brother in law...

and my old 4 string bass to my elder sister.

And...

my twelve string acoustic is on the left in this photo...

and my Max 10 keyboard.

The Tiger's Den is now complete...

well...

for now.

I thought that I was done before...

but...

I had heard a tremendously beautiful song using a 6 string bass...

and I knew I just had to have one.  :)

My Newest Guitars

 

Song:  The Eagle and the Hawk

Artist:  John Denver

I now have all the guitars I should ever need.

I have my Classical Guitar...

my electric Bass Guitar...

and now I have a...

12 String Acoustic...

and an Electric Guitar...

both of which are Epiphones.

There are a lot of songs I wish to play...

and now I have the ability to eventually learn them

on these guitars.

I will use my other instruments as well to accompany the guitars.

Right now I am practicing two songs...

one of which uses the 12 string guitar...

Bass Flute...

and the Max 10 keyboard arranger.

It will take a while as the 12 string takes much more pressure

on the strings to play...

and as such...

I cannot practice with it for too long a time...

as my hands feel arthritic.

The other song uses the classical guitar...

bass flute...

and the Max 10.

I had gotten the 12 string as it not only has a unique ring 

to the strings as it is played...

I had no steel string acoustic.

On strumming songs...

the 12 string guitar adds a great richness.

And...

if I wanted...

I could remove 6 of the strings for a regular acoustic...

and...

as the 12 string guitar must be made more robustly than a normal 6 string guitar...

if I wished...

I could also convert the 12 string into a 6 string baritone guitar.

Now...

I got this style of electric guitar because the semi hollow body

has a unique sound that is difficult to reproduce on other guitars.

I can mix and match the pickups to sound like other electric guitars...

but this also has the capability to having a mellow sound that blues and jazz

requires.

I have some songs in mind to play using this...

but it will take a while for me to finish my other songs first.

However...

it is a good carrot for me to finish my songs so I may 

get busy using this one.

I have it hanging on my wall next to my computer

so that it calls out to me to use it soon.

It is a used Epiphone P-93.

The Bigsby Vibrato will be especially used on some planned songs

in the future.

My Cover of Willow's Song

 

James Toller:  Guitar / Vocals / Bass Flute

(I just need a photo for this article to correctly file on my blog).

Cover: James Toller - Guitar / Vocals / Bass Flute LISTEN ON HEADPHONES. For some reason, without headphones on, my voice seems to alternate between being too sharp and too flat in waves. It is quite simply much more out of tune without them. This is my first attempt at singing. Yes, I know I am flat and sharp in some areas. It was the best I could do...believe me. I intend to improve in the future. The voice is, by far, the most difficult instrument I have ever attempted. I have much to improve, but, I shall get better, for I just love doing it. I am now at the age where I am crossing items off of my bucket list...and so...I sing. :) I greatly slowed the pace of the song to give it a more melancholy feel. The bass flute plays for a small portion of the song near the end. I had made some other modifications to this song including omission of the third stanza. I apologize for the background noise which is particularly noticeable on the layered bass flute portion of the song. I am partially deaf and I couldn't hear the air conditioning in the background as I recorded certain portions of the song until I heard the completed song at higher volumes. Guitar: Cordoba Protege Classical Guitar Bass Flute: Di Zhao Bass Flute Vocal: Slightly out of tune and difficult to control :) Original Composer: Paul Giovanni From the 1973 movie: The Wicker Man

This is just a reminder that my music will be on my other blog:

Cover Songs by Janes Toller

A Photo Shoot for my next Novel

 

 

Song:  Willow's Song

Artist:  Aythis (Carline Van Roos)

Yesterday evening...

my elder sister agreed to be my model for the cover of my next book...

The Lady of Fallen Leaf Lake.

I wanted a gothic ethereal look to it...

as the Lady arises from the depths of the lake to woo a man into the depths 

almost every evening near sunset with her song of the lake on her bass flute

(I will be composing and performing songs for this book...

just as I do for all of my novels).

And...

the photo shoot took place at the actual location I am writing about...

Fallen Leaf Lake

(It lies about 1.5 hours from home...just a little ways from South Lake Tahoe).

And the lady in the above music video had actually given me the idea for this book

as I watched this and another music video (Falling) on YouTube

(I love her music).

The public marina actually closes at 7 PM...

but luckily...

the security didn't kick us out...

although they were standing by from a respectable distance until we left.

My elder sister's husband was also taking photos from his camera on a tripod

from various angles (although all of these photos are mine)...

and his set up made us seem to be professionals...

and so...

the security tacitly allowed us to keep taking pictures until the sun set ended

(Thanks guys...).

I just had to get some sunset photos...

as the clouds overhead told me it would be a nice one.

I had taken over 300 photos as I experimented with angles and lighting...

until I got some which would be perfect for the book cover.

I had originally visited Fallen Leaf Lake with my son...Alex...

some years ago.

It has a special feel to it...

a beauty that is unique to it.

As I wrote the beginning of the story...

I relied upon my memory of our first visit there.

Although I am now in music mode...

I hope to finish the book before summer's end.

As I am retired...

I engage in my passions in life as the mood strikes me...

as I alternate between my passions of writing and music.

If I don't feel inspired...

I don't write...

and so...

I don't put deadlines before me.

However...

music and locations almost always inspire me to write.

I will be using a photo from this photo shoot for my cover.

For the day lit photos...

I was thinking of adding in mist...

and then...

the magic of the sunset changed my mind...

as you will see.

My elder sister had actually held my bass flute for long periods

of time as I changed angles over and over.

I purposely wanted to give the photos a darkened look...

as the Lady is an apparition who lives in the depths of the lake

(It really is hundreds of feet deep).

To give the photos some realism...

I first showed my elder sister how to hold the flute...

and then she would blow into it as I took the photos...

and she had actually started to get some muted notes from it

before the photo shoot ended.

My elder sister wore the robe that she had made for my mother

for this photo shoot.

Fallen Leaf Lake has many private homes surrounding it.

It has a campground near the other side of the lake.

It also has a trail which goes around it...

but the marina has the best vantage point for any sunset shots.

As the sun began to set...

the colors started to come out.

Although the dock plays a part in the story...

I was thinking of misting the photo so the docks were hidden in mist...

but, again, decided against any alterations.

Then I started angling the shots so I wouldn't have to make

any alterations to the photos.

I laid on my back for some of the shots.

I experimented with some flash shots...

but quickly realized they didn't fit the feel I wanted to express.

And so...

I will decide on a photo at a later time

for use as my next book cover.

We had a great time there...

minus our battle with the mosquitoes.

Flight Of The Arn

 

 

Song:  Flight Of The Arn

Composed / Performed:  James Toller

This is the last song for The Halo Trilogy...

from book three...Halo: The Return.

The Tiger's Den - My Writing And Music Studio

 

I had just finished hanging up my guitars in this photo

(I installed the hangers directly into the wooden studs).

The electric Bass Guitar is on the left...

the Classical Guitar my son had bought me is in the center...

and the standard Electric Guitar is on the right.

And of course...

my Bass Flute is in front of the computer.

I kneeled on my bed to take this photo.  

Hopefully soon...

I will have my Medeli AKX -10 keyboard music arranger

 just to the right of where my chair is.

And even though I am still a beginner in music...

I hope to soon be able to play covers of some of my favorite songs

with these instruments.

I use the condenser microphone only to record the bass flute.

When I play the guitars...

I plug them directly into the computer interface...

even the classical guitar my son had bought me.

I had placed a contact transducer microphone in the middle of...

and just behind, the bridge of the guitar.

The sound is superior with this type of microphone for classical guitar.

(Addendum:  Actually, I had originally thought this because of the lack of a quality

universal condenser mike to record all the music.

I upgraded my mike and I now record everything with it).

For those wondering how to layer music...

I merely use the software included with the Mac...

GarageBand.

It allows you to listen to the previously laid track/s on headphones

as you record the next track.

This is how one may keep time with the other instruments already recorded...

while recording multiple layers of a song.

I then use the software included on the Mac...iMovie...

to make the music videos for YouTube.

I also use Pages...

the included software on Mac...

to write and publish from.

It is all so interesting and so much fun.

I just love my Mac computer.

Anyway, this is where I do all of my writing and music.

I have two basic modes of operation...

writing...

and music.

When I write...

I listen to beautiful music.

I spend most of everyday here.  

I have a comfortable captain's chair which is generously padded.

When I get deep into my writing...

I will sometimes sit in the chair in front of the computer

 for more than 20 hours at a time.

When I am really absorbed in writing a story...

I will often fast for a few days...

as I don't wish to interrupt my thought process by having to cook or eat...

and I will write until I get sleepy...

wake up...

and start writing until I again get sleepy...

and so on...

sometimes for days on end

(I usually do this when my younger sister has my mother for those days).

I had blacked out the window...

and insulated it from light or noise.

I am nocturnal.

I am most creative after the sun sets...

until the sun rises.

I generally write and play music by the light of the computer only...

as it aids in feeling isolated from the rest of the world...

so I may indulge myself in my world.

This is the Tiger's Den.

For me...

there is almost nowhere else I would rather be.

Until We Meet Again - Children's Chorus Version

 

This is the children's chorus version.

I haven't recorded it yet...

I may never.  I like the improvised flute and guitar version much more.