Me meto un tiro,
¡Pum!
El eco suena,
¡Pum!
O quizás es el corazón,
¡Pum!
Que todavía sueña.

Etiqueta: Billy Corgan

Clip de una nueva canción de Smashing Pumpkins

Clip de una nueva canción de Smashing Pumpkins

Clip of Smashing Pumpkins’ new song “Anti-Hero”

Sacado de // From –> http://www.smashingpumpkinsnexus.com/

*La traducción será bastante mala, ya que Billy explica concienzudamente procedimientos técnicos de grabar canciones, y mis conocimientos de inglés no llegan a tanto*

Ah, finalmente, hoy, me sentí como si estuviera grabando un disco de la manera contraria a la que se prepara un disco. Esto no tiene nada que ver con T Lee, que está preparando todo de una forma envidiable. Es sólo que El Shredder y yo hemos llegado a hundir los dientes en el doblaje del olvido. ¿qué significa eso? He aquí un ejemplo: empezamos todo con una Jag azul del 63 para los versos, y usando un «controlador de línea» -no sé si se puede traducir con otro nombre, ni idea, no estoy dentro del mundo de hacer música- sencillo en un Marshall del 70 enlazado a una señal de baja-alta fidelidad que hace que Howard esté orgulloso. Engenda un sonido super sonico para la mega-coros. Para los novatos, un conductor de línea es esencialmente un alzador de señal de 35db con una especie de filtro que hace que todo suene como en un viejo amplificador; la parte buena de ser un sonido de animación, la parte mala es que normalmente te quedas atascado como si estuvieras montando en un potro salvaje. Así que en 3 – 4 horas de experimentación he conseguido más o menos un ritmo único para la canción. A continuación, Jeff lo pone en la misma posición en los amplificadores de pruebas, los gabinetes, las posiciones de micrófono, e incluso en los mejores altavoces (de 4) para su uso. Y en cuanto él lo consigue Howard está presa del pánico, diciendo: «Estáis locos.»

Jeff: “Hey, cualquier día en el que mi amplificador no explote es un buen día.”

Abajo os dejo un pequeño clip Shredder tocando ANTI-HERO, derechos de autor míos, escrita por mí. ¡Así que no la robéis»

W.P.C.

IN ENGLISH

Ah, finally, today, I felt like I was making a record as opposed to preparing to make a record. This is to take nothing away from T Lee, who’s admirably set us up. It’s just that The Shredder and I get to sink teeth now into overdub oblivion. So what’s that mean? Here’s an example: began with the ’63 blue Jag for the verses, and using a simple line driver into a 70’s Marshall combo laced a lo-fi, high-fi signal that made ever Howard proud. Which begat a super sonic sound (BC gtr into same line driver into me Super Tremolo head/thank you Uli!) for mega-choruses. For novices, a line driver is essentially a 35db signal boost with a kind of filter on it that juices an old amp; the good part being an animated sound, the bad part that you are often stuck riding a wild pony. So in 3 to 4 hours of experimentation I dialed, dialed, dialed in what was my lone rhythm track. Which then put Jeff in the same position of testing amps, cabinets, microphone positions, and even the best speakers (of 4) to use. And in that he’d get it sorted with Howard looking more panic stricken. Quote: “You guys are insane.”

Jeff: “Hey, any day that my amp doesn’t blow up is a good day.”

Here above then is a short clip of The Shredder playing ANTI-HERO, copyright me, written by me. So don’t go a stealin’!

W.P.C.

Mike Byrne está definitivamente fuera de los Smashing Pumpkins

Mike Byrne está definitivamente fuera de los Smashing Pumpkins

Mike Byrne is definitely out of Smashing Pumpkins

http://www.moderndrummer.com/site/wp-content/uploads/Mike-Byrne.jpg

Sacado de // From –> http://portalternativo.com/http://www.moderndrummer.com/

El hecho que Tommy Lee se haya encargado de tocar la batería en el nuevo disco de The Smashing Pumpkins parecía dejar claro que la banda de Billy Corgan había prescindido de los servicios de quien era hasta no hace tanto el encargado de manejar las baquetas, Mike Byrne.

Ahora en declaraciones a Music Radar, Corgan lo explica:

Mmm… Digamos que Mike, como Elvis, ha dejado el edificio.

Byrne, de 19 años, tocó en “Teargarden by Kaleidyscope” y “Oceania”, y salió con la banda en sus distintas giras.

Hablando del que fuese batería del grupo, Jimmy Chamberlin y Tommy Lee, Corgan cuenta:

Los dos músicos más intuitivos con los que he trabajado son Jimmy Chamberlin y Tommy Lee. Te sientas ahí atrás mientras ves como va pasando y piensas, “Hay una razón por la que este tío ha vendido tantos millones de discos” – mientras lo voy viendo todo. Es una cierta sensación, un cierto ‘swing’, un cierto acercamiento a la música y un verdadero amor por la música. Tanto Tommy como Jimmy lo tienen. Saben lo que hacen – no esconden la mano.

IN ENGLISH

Then let’s talk about your decision to use another drummer. Were other names floated around before you set your sights on Tommy?

“No. No, I talked about it on my blog. We were sitting saying, ‘It would be great to get somebody who can play like this,’ and Jeff [Schroeder] said, ‘Why don’t we get the real deal?’ It was that simple.” [Laughs]

What if Tommy weren’t available? He’s got the big tour coming up – did you have any other names?

“You know, we hadn’t even gone down that road. There’s been some beautiful synchronicity with this album; things have just tended to line up. One thing that I need to say… I think the main point to the band – and I put ‘band’ in quotations because obviously there’s been a lot of arguments over the last seven years about what that means – I think the main point to the band in 2014 is, I want to make a certain kind of music. If I want to make that kind of music, then it’s best made under the name ‘Smashing Pumpkins.’ Where Jeff and I are at is, ‘What do we need to do to do that?’

“[It’s about] making rock ‘n’ roll in 2014 in a world that tends to be going away from guitars. Turn on any alternative station – you’re not hearing a lot of riffs. And we’re not a metal band, nor do we try to be, although we love to play that – and we just played with one of the great rock-metal drummers. I reached a point of transparency within myself where I don’t feel the need to explain to anybody else why I’m doing what I’m doing. The real key is, ‘Do I know what I’m doing and why I’m doing it, and am I having a good time doing it?’

“That seems to generate the kind of music that people want. All of the other stuff, all the other political stuff, doesn’t work out that way. So I just shrug my shoulders. If that makes me no different from some of my contemporaries who have a band name but it’s really just one or two dudes, then so be it.”

What was the process of getting Tommy’s drum parts recorded?

“I went out to LA and played him the demos we had – he loved them, got ‘em right away. Then I came back to Chicago and demoed more specifically with the idea of him tracking the drums to them. Then I went back to LA and worked out all the drum parts, which of course further refined some of the arrangements, came back to Chicago and redid the demos again, and then I went to LA to cut the final drums.

“The reason why I did that was because I wasn’t interested in just ‘Hey, isn’t it cool that Tommy Lee is on the album?’ I wanted to work with Tommy as intimately as I could so we could find common ground, so that when you hear the music it sounds like we’re playing together. It’ll sound like he’s in the band, not just the stunt drummer that I called in to dazzle and amaze. The results have been fantastic; the people who’ve heard it are like, ‘Holy shit, I can’t believe how cool this is!’

“It’s so immediate – the songs are so immediate, and the way Tommy plays is so immediate. Everybody seems to get it right away. There’s an immediacy to the music that is more like me circa 1995 than, say, me anything since then.”

Billy Corgan está feliz y cómodo por tener a Tommy Lee como batería

Billy Corgan está feliz y cómodo por tener a Tommy Lee como batería

SHACKA-LACKA-BOOM-BOOM/SP ALBUM UPDATE

Recién llegado de la costa, Howard, Jeff y yo comenzamos la parte final final (¿dije final?) en el proceso de construcción de estas 9 pistas que conocemos tan bien; ahora que tenemos el aluvión de batería de T Lee estamos bastante más seguros.

Y oh,  cuánto echaba de menos estas actualizaciones diarias. Pero yo no estaba dispuesto a compartir (con la misma intimidad) cómo el Sr. Le trabajaba bajo la fulminante mirada de nuestro productor. Digamos que para la grabación él no solo consiguió todo con la precisión exacta que nos exige el cansado veterano de la era del ordenador, Tommy incluso hizo echar unas lágrimas a Howard por recordarle sus (todavía lejanas) épocas de pelo largo.

Pero dejando las bromas a un lado, quiero decir que trabajar con un músico tan cálido, brillante, vivo, intuitivo y emocionante como T Lee ha sido una gran alegría, y lo más destacado de mi vida musical. Afortunadamente le considero un hermano y un amigo.

(…)

IN ENGLISH

Freshly back from the coast, Howard, Jeff, and I began the final-final (did I say final?) process of building up these 9 tracks we know so well; now that we have the T Lee drum barrage backing us up.

 And oh how I missed these daily updates. But I wasn’t about to share (with the same intimacy) how said Mr. Lee fared under the withering gaze of our Producer! Let’s just say for the record that not only did he match the exacting precision demanded by that wearied veteran of the computer age, Tommy even brought Howard to tears as he recalled his own (yet distant) big-haired past.

 But all joshing aside I want to say that working with a musician as warm, bright, alive, intuitive, and concussive as T Lee has been a great joy, and a highlight of my musical life. Lucky am I to consider him a brother and a friend.

 As far as today’s studio work, we began assessing the drums takes we have while negotiating some of the minor editing work necessary to begin piling on basses, guitars, keys, vocals, and glingerschlinks. By the way that’s Teuton for dark matter. Also pulled out a phalanx of BC Strats for variety, and lined up the usual suspects: my Tonight, Tonight 335, the Mayo Kimberly, and even the Dross SG. Locked and loaded, ready to rock. Go! Bass tracking starts tomorrow.

 W.P.C.

Historias detrás de «Superunknown»

Historias detrás de «Superunknown»

New oral history of Soundgarden’s Superunknown

Soundgarden, from left: Matt Cameron, Kim Thayil, Chris Cornell, and Ben Shepherd.

Sacado de // From –> carticles/oral-history-soundgarden-superunknown-anniversary-reissue/

Somewhere between a man beating himself bloody with spoons and a producer ripping a door off its hinges, Soundgarden made the record they’d been waiting nine years to unleash. Already beloved in the Seattle rock scene, and reaping the benefits of their town’s early ’90s grunge celebrity alongside their friends Nirvana and Pearl Jam, the band’s previous album, 1991’s Badmotorfinger, had gone platinum and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Metal Performance. They’d helped spur Sub Pop records on to greatness, hit the road with Guns N’ Roses, and commanded the mainstage of Lollapalooza.

But the band that so identified with muscular, pistoning hard-rock believed they were also capable of a deeper pop melodicism, of more nuanced anthems. By the summer of 1993, frontman and guitarist Chris Cornell, a longtime Beatles and Pink Floyd devotee, and bassist Ben Shepherd, a blithely experimental hand with tunings and dynamics, had begun crafting songs that would defy headbangers’ expectations. They recruited the producer Michael Beinhorn — who’d helmed releases by the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Soul Asylum — to help realize their ambitions.

The six months of recording, engineering and mixing that went into Superunknown did not progress as in-step with that idealism. The band clashed constantly with Beinhorn — whose methodical repetition was at odds with their down-and-dirty recording habits — and all began to doubt the results. But their vindication would come, unsubtly, in the radio ubiquity of «Black Hole Sun,» two Grammy wins, and the enduring career the band had cemented for themselves as a result of the album’s success. Furthermore, the record handily dispelled any notion of Soundgarden being reductive metalheads: From the roiling surf-pop guitars of «My Wave,» to Cornell’s menacing, discomfiting vocal operatics on «Mailman,» to the tetchy, bluesy crawl of «Limo Wreck,» and the Gonzo nonchalance and psychedelic-pop agility of «Black Hole Sun,» Superunknown thrived in its eccentric outer limits.

Here, 20 years after the album’s release, is the story behind its creation from the people who were there, plus a Bill Nye the Science Guy cameo, because Seattle was pretty weird back then.

If you want to read the whole article –> carticles/oral-history-soundgarden-superunknown-anniversary-reissue/

Billy Corgan explica cómo decidió contar con Tommy Lee

Billy Corgan explica cómo decidió contar con Tommy Lee

Billy Corgan about why Tommy Lee is playing drums in the new album

Sacado de // From –> http://portalternativo.com/http://www.smashingpumpkinsnexus.com/

Billy Corgan ha explicado en un post en la web de The Smashing Pumpkins como ha hecho que Tommy Lee toque en el nuevo disco del grupo.

La idea de contactar con (Tommy Lee) vino de Shredder (el guitarrista de Smashing Pumpkins, Jeff Schroeder) quien, al oírme decir, “necesitamos que alguien como Tommy toque en esta canción”, me dijo, “Bueno, ¿por qué no contactamos con él?”

Y déjame que diga algo: he tenido la fortuna de estar en una habitación con algunos de los más grandes de todos los tiempos y cuando estás tan cerca de alguien que es el mejor en lo que hace, ganas en perspectiva en como son capaces de comunicar con tantos. Llamémosle lenguaje universal (cosa que, obviamente, es la música) y poniéndole corazón/alma presentan intangibles que le dan dimensión y profundidad a una composición que de otro modo no sería tan caleidoscópica.

Así que hace unas semanas le propuse a (Tommy Lee) la idea, le puse todas las canciones en las que había trabajado para terminarlas, y hablamos de la manera en que estaríamos más cómodos encontrando un terreno común para ambos en el estudio. Lo cual explica la prisa por preparar los arreglos para que pudiera tocar la batería y también por no desvelar el trabajo para que nada y nadie pudiera influir en el proceso.

También estoy feliz de poder informar que no solo lo pasamos genial sino que las nueve canciones de “Monuments” suenan de forma épica de un modo indescriptible. Supongo que podría soltar hipérboles pero se quedaría corto con como me gusta llamarlo, “Supersonic Pumpkins”, que es una descripción en si misma.

Tommy le da a la batería de manera aplastante pero como muchos fans sabéis, no sin matices o reacción; tiene un oído musical fantástico y toca con las canciones de un modo en que solo incrementa la emoción. El único otro sitio en que he oído este fenómeno es con John Bonham de Led Zeppelin: donde la batería heavy puede sonar suave y expresiva. ¡Buena compañía sin duda!

En cuanto a la conexión, conocí a Tommy allá por el año 1991 cuando vino a uno de nuestros conciertos y a lo largo de los años nos hemos encontrado en distintos lugares. Así que la pareja no es tan extraña como algunos creen ya que él, igual que yo, ha adoptado nuevas tecnologías, electrónica, etc. para crear nuevos sonidos. Es una persona maravillosa, amable y no sería algo que le hubiera propuesto de no confiar en que fuese algo de lo que ambos estuviéramos orgullosos. Esperamos terminar la batería en unas semanas, viendo que tenemos prisa por sacar esto y, oh, si, Tommy tiene su gira mega-CRÜE.

Dejadme añadir a nivel personal y a nivel público que estoy realmente emocionado, y es que hay una emoción en la música vital y necesaria; especialmente cuando tienes en cuenta lo que hay por ahí afuera. Creo en esta música con alma que estamos haciendo y estoy orgulloso con quien estoy metido en esto. Ataque, ataque, ataque…

IN ENGLISH

The notion to reach out to T Lee came from The Shredder, who in hearing me say ‘we really need to get someone like Tommy to play on this song’ said, “well, why don’t we reach out to him?” And let me tell you something: I’ve had the fortune of being in the room with some of the all-time greats, and when you’re that close to someone who is the best at what they do you gain insight into the way they are able to communicate to so many. Let’s call it a universal language (which music is, obviously), and in applying it with heart/soul they present intangibles that give dimension and depth to a composition which otherwise would not be as kaleidoscopic.

 So on flying out a few weeks ago I presented T Lee with the idea, played him all the songs that I’d worked hard to finish, and discussed the way we’d be most comfortable finding common ground in the studio. Which explains the rush to prepare the arrangements for him to drum on, and also our keeping the work under wraps; so that nothing and nobody could influence the process.

 I’m also happy to report that not only did we have a blast, but the 9 ‘MONUMENTS’ songs sound epic in a way that is indescribable. I guess I could toss off hyperbole after pronoun, but it would sell short what I like to call ‘Supersonic Pumpkins’; which is a descriptor in itself. Tommy hits the drums in a crushing manner, but as many fans know this is not without nuance or reaction; as he has a fantastic ear for music and plays with the songs in a means that only enhances excitement. The only other place I’ve heard this phenomena is with John Bonham of Led Zeppelin: where heavy drums can sound soft and expressive. Good company indeed!

 As for the connection, I first met Tommy way back in 1991 when he came to one of our shows, and through the years we’ve run into each other many times at various places. So the coupling is not as odd as some might assume, as he, like I, has pushed into embracing new technologies, electronics, etc where it pertains to making new sounds. He is a wonderful, warm person to be around, and I wouldn’t have come to him with this proposition if I didn’t trust that this was something we’d both be proud of. So we expect to finish up the drums in a few weeks, seeing as we’re in a rush to get this stuff out and oh yeah, Tommy’s got this mega-Crue tour to do.

 Let me also add on a personal and public level that I’m truly excited, for there’s an excitement in the music that is vital and necessary; especially when you consider what’s dying on the vine out there. I believe this is soul music we’re making, and I’m proud of who I’m stuck in the foxhole with. Attack, attack, attack…

 W.P.C.