SOLO CDS ALMOST DONE

I haven't been blogging lately- too many other things going on. I've been transferring/saving a lot of my old VHS movies to DVD, creating youtube videos from them, and transferring a LOT of original songs from my old writers tapes and 4 track cassettes, which desperately need to be preserved. The 4 track recordings began around 1985- and went until 1998 or so. there's a lot of material. It's a major work... there are at least 10 original songs per 4 track cassette- and I have over 100 of these 4-track writers tapes.

I also have maybe 100 or more 'normal' writers cassettes, with sometimes 15 songs on each side! so, it's really mega [instead of major] work. The 2 tracks go back to the early 70s- my Hollywood years and before. Unfortunately the sound quality [me w/an electric piano & old cassette recorder with a built-in mic] are not so good. Some of the songs are good...some very good... but would have to be re-cut from scratch.

A lot of the 4 track stuff is amazing [to me] and more relevant than I'd imagined. Some of the songs written in 1985/1986 are socio-politically "right on time" now. Luckily, i bought a Cubase/Steinberg unit which has 4 inputs, and records the 4 tracks at once into my PC, saves them as individual tracks, and files them. It also has a 16 track 'studio' so i can edit the tracks, add to them, etc. A lot of the songs have been professionally cut and gone onto my various cds- but a lot never did- due to genre issues. But, i am seriously thinking of editing and cleaning up the tracks and releasing them as cds soon. i don't really want to mess with them too much; i really like the sound and feel of them just the way they are: lots of old analog drum machines and synths. However, with modern technology, i can sample the best parts/sections and make them a bit more consistent.

[c]2007 doug duffey

TECHNO DISCO CABARET

this song- "disarmed" -eventually went on my 1st cd ["danger, sex & sound fx" rabadash records/new orleans] - as did a few more from this show. although this is on my youtube site i'm posting it here, too. it's a real "flash from the past"!

it's from my 80s period, where i was pretty much writing/recording songs on my old 4-track cassette recorder [i still have and use it!] daily. i didn't use midi- i didn't want the music to be "perfect" or too mechanical- i wanted some 'real' life to it. these were basically writer's tapes. BUT, i mixed the instrument tracks down to 2 track cassette- 4 sets [45 minutes each] of original songs- then we [moi, linda bailey, bill dunn & tim blunk] sang all the vocals over them LIVE.

we pretty much tried to recreate the vocals/backing vocals from the original tapes- which was not so easy, because tim and i would lower the speed on the machine and do crazy backing vocal parts... which when put back to normal speed threw our voices up much higher-or lower! linda managed to wail the high parts! her voice could peel paint off the walls! we had a crew [dr. pete harris & woody]; had great sound & lights/ black backdrops- and we blasted the music LOUD!

there is only this one video of one set of this show, to my knowledge, and it is in BAD shape... but i am saving it as best i can. there are song parts that are too garbled... i tried syncing the original backing track to it- but they're [for some weird reason] in different keys- and the beats wont match up. so much for that... it is what it is... and it was FUN!

[c]2007 doug duffey

LOUISIANA- LIVE THEATER VERSION

i think this is a beautiful 'production' of the song. many thanks to the dancers, who did an incredible job... and to my very talented cousin, Donna Ward, who choreographed it.

[c]2007 doug duffey

VOODOO-ING THE WORLD

I've begun going through the archive [old vhs tapes, and dvds] -now that i finally got a video capture device and have begun yet another insanity: putting videos online... [as if recording and editing new music and older recordings wasn't enough!] but it's fun. check out some live performances: http://www.youtube.com/DougDuffey

the clip below was taken @ the Tricou House [711 Bourbon Street] where i worked for years. they had a closed-circuit video camera on the piano area so they could show the 'entertainment' on BIG tv upstairs- so, i'd often get the upstairs bartender to video my sets for me- for posterity [the eventual invention of youtube etc.] i told him to turn off the color, and shoot me in black and white... yet another good move. i have tons of these tapes.... maybe i should do a dvd?

here, someone is asking me -between songs- about my voodoo doll on the piano... about the writing [mystic symbols] on it. Chicken Man gave it to me- he came by all the time and would give me voodoo dolls and various gris gris and charms for good luck. anyway... now... i find it funny... the way i made that bar like my living room! i could do whatever i wanted... and did...

btw- the anorexic look was not from drugs or starvation, but from being a strict vegan for 7 years! i think it's time to throw out the pork chops!
[c] 2007 doug duffey

VIDEOS ADDED TO YOUTUBE.COM

have begun uploading some live footage from some gigs to youtube - and i'm in the process of adding more... check it out! click here.... voila.
[c]2007 doug duffey

1st day of fall- recordings

now that fall is finally here, I have begun recording; fall always inspires me.

my intention was to do some solo piano and vocal tracks “live” to my laptop; no multi tracking; everything played & sang at once. I like that method. However, I had technical problems.
I was running my piano and mic through my Roland VS1680 [using it as a mixer- since i hate using it- very complicated] into the laptop. 1^st the Roland was picking up some local radio station, then, the piano would come through the headphones, but not the mic. So… I got frustrated and began multi tracking.

wrote/recorded a couple of jam tracks, then did covers of "for what it's worth" [buffalo springfield] and "season of the witch" [donovan/ julie driscoll & brian auger] which i later fused into one very long psychedelic medley... with lots of fx... and a 60s psychedelic organ solo. I did them in honor of the 40-year anniversary of "the summer of love"... I thought about posting those 2 covers in this blog …but what w/copyright laws… thought better of it.

later i tried my original plan again… and variations…and it still didn’t work. so... maybe i'll just play directly into my old Fostex 4 track recorder as a mixer! voila.

[c]2007 doug duffey

writing lyrics/manual typwriters

have been going through [listening to, adding to or subtracting from] tons of tracks on my pc... and writing/ recording some new stuff, lately- and while the spirit is upon me, when i take a break from the music writing, i've been writing some lyrics using my old manual typewriters [better to hammer out the rhythm with, rather like piano keys, than a PC]

i have one on each porch of my house, and on various desks throughout; have collected them for years... the one in the foto below has been used for lyric/poetry/dairies & journals since the early 1970s [pre-computer]! most of my hollywood and new orleans diaries, all letters, poems and lyrics, etc. were written on it up until 1998 [when i got my 1st laptop]- i really prefer typewriters to computers... i like the uber alles feel [like an acoustic piano as opposed to a frigging keyboard] -the paper trail- [no crashes- you don't lose work]- the sound and feel and the beauty of the machinery... same thing with cameras: i prefer old manual ones to new digital ones.
above: a shot done today- on my front porch- with my old 'schreibmachine'- and below: one from a hollywood yard sale- circa 1970s- on the back porch looking out onto my 'outside' porch and my forest in the distance: a great/serene place to have coffee, smoke, THINK and TYPE...

now if only it were possible to easily find ribbons for them... but then, there IS the computer/internet, n'est pas?

[c]2007 doug duffey