Richard Revelstoke
Bio
Author, musician, activist. Played in rock bands now into jazz. Lives in Vancouver, Canada working on third novel. www.richardrevelstoke.com
Stories (9)
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Hockey
One thing I have noticed about bands and specifically rock bands is that all bands seem to unconsciously form in numbered groups, What I mean is that a trio is always a trio, and a quartet is always a quartet. Very rarely do bands add or subtract the magic number that works for them. They very often change personnel, but not the requisite number. There are exceptions of course, Genesis went from a five piece to a three piece (sort of), replacing Peter Gabriel with Phil Collins and hiring session player, Chester Thompson when touring. So in reality they were actually a four piece, using Phil in the studio for the dual function of singer and drummer. Which leads to my next point, that all rock bands are really a six-piece. And that is because the essential elements of rock and roll are as follows:
By Richard Revelstoke5 years ago in Beat
Basics of Songwriting
Here I will attempt to give you a few basics. You might consider taking a poetry or fiction course that explores the English language a lot deeper than is possible here. Most songwriters today are self-taught and writing skills can be improved with some schooling. Artists tend to fall into bad habits and also fail to reach their potential without some personal care. A good teacher can do wonders in taking some of the bugs out of your writing and playing.
By Richard Revelstoke5 years ago in Beat
The Tao of Guitar
This is where you need the Tao. What the heck is a Tao you may ask? Well, here is what Lao Tzu had to say about it: The Tao is like a bellows It is empty yet infinitely capable The more you use it, the more it produces The more you talk of it the less you understand.
By Richard Revelstoke5 years ago in Beat
Athabasca
When I first stepped off the plane it was minus fifty degrees. The words “cold” or “freezing” don’t do justice: a new word needs to be invented, maybe combining excruciating and frozen. (exfroziating?) I broke out into a strange red rash over my whole body that lasted my entire first two weeks on site. I couldn’t get warm, no matter how many layers I put on and at night a shivered under the blankets. After a couple turns up there I got used to it. Eventually minus fifteen was a nice warm day.
By Richard Revelstoke5 years ago in The Swamp
Basics of Songwriting
I know everything there is to know about music theory. ~ Yngwie J. Malmsteen Malmsteen’s statement is quite a statement to make considering the complexity of music theory: someone who claims to have mastered theory is either a musical genius or possesses a giant ego (or both). And there are probably few people qualified to disprove him. So does that mean there is no hope for us lesser mortals? Of course not. Pop music doesn’t require an exhaustive understanding of music theory for the simple reason that it’s just not that complicated. Many pop musicians and songwriters can’t read a note and have little formal training.
By Richard Revelstoke5 years ago in Beat
Jesus and Siddhartha
There are probably no greater spiritual teachers in human history than Joshua ben Joseph, (aka Jesus of Nazareth) and Siddhartha Gautama, (aka Buddha.) Both had life-transforming experiences around the age of thirty. Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness before beginning his public career. Siddhartha had a revelation sitting under a fig tree: both of them had an enlightened wisdom, a new way of seeing the world that no one had noticed before.
By Richard Revelstoke5 years ago in Longevity
Racists
Maybe you’ve never noticed this but racists don’t think they are racists. They think they are protecting and guarding their culture against everyone who they view as a threat to their institutions and traditions. They see themselves as the victims, and the Blacks, Muslims, Mexicans, Chinese, Jews, immigrants, Russians and aliens are plotting to overthrow society and destroy them.
By Richard Revelstoke5 years ago in The Swamp
Band Psychology
Who are these guys we hang out with? Are musicians just a bunch of hapless misfits who don’t want a real job? How do we, as songwriters fit into this band world? The best way to understand the people we work with and make music with is to look at each member of the band and develop a model of their behaviour. This may, of course seem stereotypical, but the following commentaries are at best, generalizations and are not meant to be conclusive, only indicative. There are many exceptions to these cases. (Now I’m really started to sound like Sigmund, yah?)
By Richard Revelstoke5 years ago in Beat
Recording
Everything I learned about recording I learned the hard way. By being forced to be a techie when I’m really an artsy-fartsy. There is definitely a school of thought out there, perpetuated no doubt by the techies, that all this high tech recording gear is way over our heads and we can’t do it without them. This is totally not true. The Beatles had technology equivalent to a $400 cassette 4-track and look what they accomplished.
By Richard Revelstoke5 years ago in Beat
